Strava: http://www.strava.com/activities/136403092
Before the race, there were some e-mail exchanges among the "critters" where I indicated it would be nice leading into the next series by finishing this one on top or on the podium. Shannon obviously took this to heart, but more on this later....
The weather conditions were pretty horrible with strong winds (not as bad as Tuesday or Wednesday mind you) coming from the NW making the bottom of the course pretty rough. On top of that, it was friggin' hot. It's hard to transition from racing in cooler weather to when it's as hot it was given fluid requirements change drastically. As much as I thought I was prepared for it, I was cramping 2-3 laps out from the finish of the race.
Thankfully, the laps weren't as long as they are usually where they had a slightly modified short course due to some event that seemed to have taken place there recently. It was slightly longer than their tradition short course though, so it was interesting to race in some new terrain.
I had arrived there earlier than Shannon, so I was almost ready to go and warm-up just after he finished registering. Beforehand, he introduced me to Carlos, the points leader, and as part of our discussion, he mentioned how he was going for it early in the race. He hadn't been feeling good earlier in the week though, but he wanted to see if taking off early would get him favorable results. Shannon and I took that to be on guard early on, but Shannon (and I by default) would do what we could to help. It may also be our chance to take part in a solid break, so....
When the race finally started, it didn't seem to be as big of a crew out there and definitely lacking the Rockform participation we were accustomed to early on. It's ironic given that the Carlos races for that team, so you'd think he'd have some support in the race. Then again, there are only 2 or 3 of us who come and race here wearing BRCM, so welcome to the club.
On the first race, and just as he indicated, Carlos made a break before the first turn and Shannon and I watched at first to see how others would respond. I was going to stay with Shannon as I normally do, but you can tell it was going to be a fast one early on. When the #2 guy gave chase, we saw that he closed in on the group ahead where Carlos checked up and started falling back toward the pack. We were still toward the front of the chase pack at the time, so at some point I remember pushing up to help provide Shannon some coverage. The lead pack wasn't far ahead and at the time didn't seem like there was a lot of concern given Carlos was with us...or so I thought.
After getting pulled back in on the chase group, I remember seeing Shannon starting to make his way ahead to the lead group. I thought about this when I saw it and didn't think the chase group wouldn't respond. I figured if Shannon stayed in the lead group, pushing up would also mean possibly bridging the gap inadvertently and ruining their chances to keep the break. So in the pack I sat....
As we continued to race on, it was obvious the chase group wasn't ever going to get organized so I took a few pulls, one of which was more than half way around the course mind you, just to make it worth my while. Shannon's group had splintered some with people popping off reducing the breakaway group down from 12 to about 5, so the opportunity for a possible top 10 finish still existed.
After having taken some pulls and feeling the onset of cramping on my left calf, we neared the 2nd to the last lap where I was up pulling at the front part of the course. One guy went passing by pretty close to me, actually startling me as he did, and took off with no one responding. After we rounded the top of the course, I sprinted away from the chase group and caught the guy (Evan as we would later meet) and tried to encourage a breakaway together. I relieved him after a caught my breath, but he never came around to relieve me where we finally were caught again by the chase group at the bottom of the course. It was worth a shot, right?
On the last lap, you couldn't even see where Shannon and his group were anymore, so it was just a matter of seeing what will happen within the chase group for the final sprint. My calf was increasingly threatening me at this point, but I figured I'd man up and just do what I could anyway. Now, I hadn't seen Carlos at all for the few laps we rounded after he got reeled in, but he appeared on the last lap and I thought I'd see how he manages to find ways to push up to the front for the final sprint. You don't get to be a point leader by luck, so....
As we got to the bottom part of the course that would eventually lead for the final sprint, I was just going to stay with him and see if I can shoot by at some point. Despite being midpack in the chase group at the time, I thought there must be something special he would do to push ahead of everyone. There just has to be. After rounding the last turn, I started sprinting as he did but I was already starting to make my way past him early on. As I passed, I think I literally saw him just give up and thought to myself...damn...that was a bad gamble on my part. I guess I should have paid more weight to how he indicated he wasn't feeling good, as he pretty much gave up on all hopes of winning the series and ultimately lost the title. I decided I'd just keep going for it passing about 10 or so people on my way, but that only left me with being in 17th place and a very angry left calf at the finish. It was so angry, in fact, that I couldn't even pedal during the cool down given it had fully locked up.
When I heard the news that Shannon got 2nd place, that's pretty much all I needed to hear. Regardless of my own personal outcome, this was a team success. I may have cited the butterfly theory before, but I truly believe that even the smallest changes during the race can lead to the biggest changes in outcome. With a #2 spot for Shannon, I wouldn't change a thing about how this race went at all. Congratulations, buddy! You deserved it for sure.
We celebrated Shannon's results with some fine brews he made (damn, the boy has got it down pat), along with a bomber of Saint Archer Pale Ale I brought. Shannon ended up giving me a bomber of more beer he made that I brought home, drank, and pretty much passed out from. Good stuff. I do wonder once in a while how much faster I would be if I didn't drink, but then again I wonder how much less I would ride knowing I'm not going to drink afterward. Irony defined.
Let's get ready to RUUUMMMMBBBLLLEE...Series 2 starts next week....
Before the race, there were some e-mail exchanges among the "critters" where I indicated it would be nice leading into the next series by finishing this one on top or on the podium. Shannon obviously took this to heart, but more on this later....
The weather conditions were pretty horrible with strong winds (not as bad as Tuesday or Wednesday mind you) coming from the NW making the bottom of the course pretty rough. On top of that, it was friggin' hot. It's hard to transition from racing in cooler weather to when it's as hot it was given fluid requirements change drastically. As much as I thought I was prepared for it, I was cramping 2-3 laps out from the finish of the race.
Thankfully, the laps weren't as long as they are usually where they had a slightly modified short course due to some event that seemed to have taken place there recently. It was slightly longer than their tradition short course though, so it was interesting to race in some new terrain.
I had arrived there earlier than Shannon, so I was almost ready to go and warm-up just after he finished registering. Beforehand, he introduced me to Carlos, the points leader, and as part of our discussion, he mentioned how he was going for it early in the race. He hadn't been feeling good earlier in the week though, but he wanted to see if taking off early would get him favorable results. Shannon and I took that to be on guard early on, but Shannon (and I by default) would do what we could to help. It may also be our chance to take part in a solid break, so....
When the race finally started, it didn't seem to be as big of a crew out there and definitely lacking the Rockform participation we were accustomed to early on. It's ironic given that the Carlos races for that team, so you'd think he'd have some support in the race. Then again, there are only 2 or 3 of us who come and race here wearing BRCM, so welcome to the club.
On the first race, and just as he indicated, Carlos made a break before the first turn and Shannon and I watched at first to see how others would respond. I was going to stay with Shannon as I normally do, but you can tell it was going to be a fast one early on. When the #2 guy gave chase, we saw that he closed in on the group ahead where Carlos checked up and started falling back toward the pack. We were still toward the front of the chase pack at the time, so at some point I remember pushing up to help provide Shannon some coverage. The lead pack wasn't far ahead and at the time didn't seem like there was a lot of concern given Carlos was with us...or so I thought.
After getting pulled back in on the chase group, I remember seeing Shannon starting to make his way ahead to the lead group. I thought about this when I saw it and didn't think the chase group wouldn't respond. I figured if Shannon stayed in the lead group, pushing up would also mean possibly bridging the gap inadvertently and ruining their chances to keep the break. So in the pack I sat....
As we continued to race on, it was obvious the chase group wasn't ever going to get organized so I took a few pulls, one of which was more than half way around the course mind you, just to make it worth my while. Shannon's group had splintered some with people popping off reducing the breakaway group down from 12 to about 5, so the opportunity for a possible top 10 finish still existed.
After having taken some pulls and feeling the onset of cramping on my left calf, we neared the 2nd to the last lap where I was up pulling at the front part of the course. One guy went passing by pretty close to me, actually startling me as he did, and took off with no one responding. After we rounded the top of the course, I sprinted away from the chase group and caught the guy (Evan as we would later meet) and tried to encourage a breakaway together. I relieved him after a caught my breath, but he never came around to relieve me where we finally were caught again by the chase group at the bottom of the course. It was worth a shot, right?
On the last lap, you couldn't even see where Shannon and his group were anymore, so it was just a matter of seeing what will happen within the chase group for the final sprint. My calf was increasingly threatening me at this point, but I figured I'd man up and just do what I could anyway. Now, I hadn't seen Carlos at all for the few laps we rounded after he got reeled in, but he appeared on the last lap and I thought I'd see how he manages to find ways to push up to the front for the final sprint. You don't get to be a point leader by luck, so....
As we got to the bottom part of the course that would eventually lead for the final sprint, I was just going to stay with him and see if I can shoot by at some point. Despite being midpack in the chase group at the time, I thought there must be something special he would do to push ahead of everyone. There just has to be. After rounding the last turn, I started sprinting as he did but I was already starting to make my way past him early on. As I passed, I think I literally saw him just give up and thought to myself...damn...that was a bad gamble on my part. I guess I should have paid more weight to how he indicated he wasn't feeling good, as he pretty much gave up on all hopes of winning the series and ultimately lost the title. I decided I'd just keep going for it passing about 10 or so people on my way, but that only left me with being in 17th place and a very angry left calf at the finish. It was so angry, in fact, that I couldn't even pedal during the cool down given it had fully locked up.
When I heard the news that Shannon got 2nd place, that's pretty much all I needed to hear. Regardless of my own personal outcome, this was a team success. I may have cited the butterfly theory before, but I truly believe that even the smallest changes during the race can lead to the biggest changes in outcome. With a #2 spot for Shannon, I wouldn't change a thing about how this race went at all. Congratulations, buddy! You deserved it for sure.
We celebrated Shannon's results with some fine brews he made (damn, the boy has got it down pat), along with a bomber of Saint Archer Pale Ale I brought. Shannon ended up giving me a bomber of more beer he made that I brought home, drank, and pretty much passed out from. Good stuff. I do wonder once in a while how much faster I would be if I didn't drink, but then again I wonder how much less I would ride knowing I'm not going to drink afterward. Irony defined.
Let's get ready to RUUUMMMMBBBLLLEE...Series 2 starts next week....
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