I spent the week leading up to the race watching the weather closely to see if I needed to put on the mud tires or keep the Racing Ralphs. I went to help Luna Cycles/ Fiets Maan racing to help set up the course up Friday. The course was dry even though it rained the day before- I decided against switching tires and stick with what I had. The morning of the race was cool and damp/ a slight drizzle but no mud. I went to get my number and the guy apologized and said "this is no reflection on you as a person". I looked at it and read 666! I'm not a superstitious person and thought BEAST MODE! I did my warm up laps, then saw some friends and talked with them for awhile and then headed to the start line. I lined up right in the middle of the pack. I was a little nervous it being my first race of the season, but once the whistle blew I was in race mode. About 100 feet into the race and at full speed the mountain bike in front of me started skidding the rear tire- he threw his chain into the rear wheel spokes. I hit the brakes and then went around him, I stayed with the pack until the finish line climb. I was pretty focused so I don't remember a lot of details. I do remember racing a few guys, back and forth changing positions.
On the 3rd lap I was following a guy around the course but didn't have a great place to pass. We rode through the bottom of the course near the start line, I wanted to put a little pressure on him so I positioned myself on his hip. We up the small hill, he went wide and I cut inside. We were side by side on the short steep descent. I pedaled hard to the run up, took the inside line and ran as hard as I could to the top. Got back on the Van Dessel and pushed as hard as I could, I was trying to put as much distance as I could between us. In my opinion this was the hardest part of the course- most of the elevation changed happened in between the run-up and finish line. The rest of the race I was pretty much by myself the rest of the race until the finish line. As much as I was glad it was over, I couldn't wait for the next one in Winston.
The rest of the day was spent cheering on Kevin and friends, and taking lots of pictures. By the way, the team (Kevin and myself) did great this weekend, lots of compliments on the jerseys, and we had a lot of fun! Looking forward to have the other guys with us soon.
-Mike
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| There was this too- Doughnut Hand-ups! |
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