There is a significant lack of pictures popping up on facebook so this post is going to be significantly lacking in pictures making it unsurprisingly uninteresting. I guess that is road racing though. I went into the race without much expectations and mostly because I was volunteering and snagged a free entry. When it was raining in the morning my motivation didn't exactly increase. Arriving on site the rain continued to fall...awesome. I rolled out with thoughts of relaxing and seeing how the race played out. If significant rain began I was sure to walk away with a DNF because I was feeling extra soft as the race began. Of course once the race starts there's no chance I'm actually stpping. The rain went away after a lap and was never too bad and I'm glad I stuck in there. Fortunately it has a nice easy start straight up the biggest climb on the course. Perfect. The field got lucky when one rider ran directly into the lead car and we all waited for him to gather his thoughts and check his equipment extending the neutral start before the race went live and attacks began in earnest. I'm still not sure what happened to that guy or how he manage to run directly into the car. Weird.
I spent the first lap watching teams and jumping across gaps when necessary but trying to conserve energy. More than a couple times I told myself I wasn't covering the next move. It is easy to get caught up in the early going. At the end of the 2nd lap the Ducati team came to the front and covered the entire road, with 3 people already up the road I was fortunate to be the one non-Ducati member on the very front. Not surprisingly shortly after they "blocked" the road one of their riders went and with all other big teams represented up the road it was an easy decision to grab his wheel and take a free pull up to the break. Our 5 man group disappeared quickly and grew our lead out to 2:50. As quickly as it grew it disappeared just as quickly during the 4th of 5 laps. All of a sudden within 5 miles or less it went from 3:00 to 1:15. Oops. I thought this break had a great chance but unfortunately it wasn't to be as people began to tire from pulling through. We were caught at Red Hill on the 4th lap and I was sure it was going to be trouble for me. Then the Peloton actually caught us, and by Peloton I mean a group of 15 or so riders with groups of riders blown off the back strewn down Taylor's Gap. "Okay," I thought "I can stay with this crew." No serious attacks occurred on Edge Valley but the pace remained high and people continued to be shed, then we hit the hill on plank. Boom, the group shattered quickly and I surprisingly still felt I had good legs. I rode behind a Kelly Benefits Rider (Jake Tremblay) up the hill and we created a gap over the crest of the hill. We regrouped with 4 Ducati riders on the descent, yes 4 riders all on the same team. This group could hardly be considered a break, this was the group that was going to survive to the finish. Fortunately for Jake and I we took a free ride all the way from Batesville until Taylors Gap, unfortunately for us, who for all intents and purposes were now on the same team, it was still 4 v. 2, and while 3 Ducati guys pulled, one was just as fresh as we were. Then somewhere on Taylor's Gap the fun began.
A couple attacks occurred from Ducati guys that I don't remember but nothing really changed, 3 tired legs weren't getting away from Jake and I. Jake, admittedly impatient, decided it was time to start attacking back. From there Jake and I started attacking Ducati. 1st he'd go, then me, then he'd go again. Finally as we got to Red Hill I took a dig and looked back to a big gap 11.5km from the finish. Down to Edge Valley I stayed on the gas and still had a good sized gap. I was hacked, assuming I'd be caught and instantly dropped when I was as the effort got harder and harder. I constantly looked back but it seemed as though I wasn't getting caught. The gap never came back and today was my day. I continued rolling over the Plank Rd. Climb and down to Batesville. The moto said I had :45 but I pushed on to the finish line anyway, why not. I got to the finish and almost didn't put my hands up in celebrations as I was completely surprised at the victory. I am still shocked that I won my first 1/2/3 over what I heard was a very solid field. Won't complain about it at all but won't keep expecting it either. It has been quite the July for me, smiles all around.
Not sure what is up next. Mostly prep for Green Mountain Stage Race, but some fun mixed in there in the way of a training trip and Gran Fondo in Boone, NC and possibly the Knoxville SRS race.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
Not sure what is up next. Mostly prep for Green Mountain Stage Race, but some fun mixed in there in the way of a training trip and Gran Fondo in Boone, NC and possibly the Knoxville SRS race.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow