It's been a while since my last post. That time has been spent deep in a meditative state and a strict training regimen. To say it best, the weather's been good enough to ride and train and ride and train I must. After all, the local version of Hell of the North was close at hand and I was aiming for the podium.
The course is relatively straight forward...five laps around a 5-mile circuit, including 1.75 miles of dirt. The dirt is always the X-factor...wet, dry, fast, slow...it always plays a role. Typically the first lap includes a spring to be first on the dirt and then jockeying for position so you don't end up being dropped before you hit the pavement again. 25 miles doesn't sound like a lot, and it's not, but the dirt is like a climb on each lap at crit pace...lots of surges, nervous riding, etc...
And then there was the weather — 34 degrees, snowing, raining, blowing...messy to say the least.
For the first three laps me and the Z Train stayed right where we wanted to be...top 5 or 10. On the beginning of the fourth lap another team tried to get someone away off the front but Zach and I helped close it down. However, the accelerations whittled the group down to about 15. Perfect. Only strong legs would be in the finale. But things didn't work out like I wanted.
Suffice it to say, my luck was bad but my legs were good. On the fourth lap two guys touched wheels in front of me and completed a spastic waltz on their bikes before deciding where to lay it down....right in front of me. I managed to unclip one foot and steer clear of the crash, but in detouring away from it I found myself off the beaten path in the thick mud at a dead stop.
I heard several more people pile up in the mess with the clatter of steel and carbon and grunts and groans. I tried to hook up with another rider who had just escaped the fray, but he was on a stupid cross bike and couldn't get things rolling himself, so I dropped him and set off to bridge back to the remaining group of 10.
From there it was all chase, chase, chase. Which I did without being able to close the gap, which at one point was only about 40-50 yards. Having done my own little TT in the wind I finished about 200 meters behind the lead group.
Z train ended up sprinting for 5th and I rounded things out somewhere between 10th or 12th.
Great race. Disappointing outcome. Good legs. And some motivation for the next race.
Two wheels for life.
2 comments:
I think that the fact that you are covered in mud is a sign of a good race.
Did Zach fall down, that dude is way muddier than you???
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