Close The Door!

After my lesson at Paradise Cross (which left me hardly sweating and with fresh legs, WTF?) I went down to Putney for the 20th running of the West Hill Shop race. A classic for sure. I forget when I first went, long long time ago, didn’t even race just went to cheer Page or something. Fast forward to last year – around this time we get a few low key races  and I have been able to notch some top 10s in the Cat 3s. Its a great break from VERGE DEATH races where I spend 45-50 minutes RUNNING FOR MY LIFE. I get to start fast, slot in, and watch people make mistakes while I ride like a smooth old man with a proper tire selection and functioning bicycle. Sure, a couple youngsters always scamper off the front with their “talent” and “energy” and “race legs” and all that. But that is fine. I am ready for it. I don’t even try to worry about the front 3 guys. I slot in around 6th-7th and see how things play out. Its nice having enough oxygen going to your brain to be riding hard but not at the point where you are about to pop and lose the wheel the whole time.

Last year I think was 6th after spending the day in a small group of 4-7th or so. It was a high point of the year for me. I was swinging the hole time, the run killed me, and I was at my limit. This year I do feel faster in that while my results seem to have been about the same, they have come after a race where I was able to ride in control and think a bit and go hard when I had to, not just suck the wheel until two to go and pop off and ride in alone feathering the gap. Progress, no?

This year, I once again forgot my trainer and so just did a couple hot laps. Same set up as Saturday, 34 Fangos at 22 PSI. Hey, its all I got this year, basically. But it was probably perfect. I was hanging out at the usual start, chatting with the 35 plus dudes who just finished, waiting for the line to form so I could front row it. Next thing I know, I see a large mass of cyclists 100 yds further up the road. What? Oh, all these guys are masters and all the guys RACING RIGHT NOW just rolled up 100 yds and are doing a secret start? WTF!

I zip up there and slot in 4th row. FOURTH ROW! BOOO! And right in the middle. I went middle cause the edges were stacked up tight. I sort of half wheeled my way up into 3rd row by “accidentally” bumping the rear wheel of the guy in front of me. Repeatedly. While inching forward. Trying to fake him out into thinking he was crowding me a bit so he would shuffle over, essentially opening up a spot in the third row (verses looking back at me like why is this DOUCHE in the 4th row all up in my ass? I better move away from him). Either way, it can be effective, and it half worked. I scoped out who was skinny and appeared to have a half decent looking functional bike. Putney is famous for a bunch of Vermont college kids with crap ass bikes showing up  to race and having yard sales in the start. Every year. Damned mountain bikers. And skiers. Tighten that shit up!

So I scoped out who was going to fall off in front of me, or next to me, opening a lane, and who was going to clip in clean, and open up a lane. I more or less nailed that part and when we got the whistle I zipped up the center, slid right and got unboxed, and then had a clear lane finally as we hit the top half of the hill, where I unleashed my deadly sprint and made it up to 7th wheel by stuffing myself into the inside line of the right hander onto the grass. How handy that I was already on the inside thanks to going the long way around on the outside in the first bend, and moving up at speed in the process!

Here is a helmet cam of lap 1. You can just see me in my grey ghost outfit blast up the right hand gutter at the top of the hill, going like stink.

I sat in 7th wheel and tried to catch a breather thru the twisties. I was on Ronnie Steers wheel. He opened up a gap which I encouraged him to close. He did not so I passed him and was 6th into the corn.

The lead group gapped me at the top of the run and I let them go, waiting for help. I was having a hard time with the run and with the reclipping. Just can’t get into these damn pedals without being in a hard gear and stomping the shit out of them. Going to try shimming the cleat.

A little group developed. I let it. People came and went. I hung out. I sized up the competition. I formulated a plan.

2 to go I made sure to sit in and rest. Last lap I was up to 2nd wheel in my group and and on the wheel of a guy who was riding this tight little line on the right hand side of the log steps. I had not done it in warm up so had not done it in the race. That is risky and usually not wise. But I had watched him every lap, and even gone so far as to let my bike roll up it as I dismounted and rode the top tube, basically riding it but unclipped, and taking one step at the top and remounting. So I was ready for it. The reclipping was costing me HUGE and I had to chase back on thru the whoops as a result, wasting gas. So last lap I let that guy go first, gave him some space, and rode the line like he did. Man it was fast and easy. The speed from that brought us right back up to Ben Koons (Linnea’s fast skier brother) who had come off of the front group. We were on him by the whoops, and we had dropped a tall skinny roadie fellow who was VERY fast on the flat straights. Neither Ben nor the Penguin Racing dude who was riding the logs was very good on the flats. Perfect. Last lap advantage me.

I planned to pass them both LIKE I MEANT IT on the bumpy grass trail between the downhill and the cornfield, and try to solo it in at least to the run, so I could block THE SHIT out of Ben who was gaining 5 seconds up that run every time. I had wanted to chop him leading into the run so bad all day, but this was not a Verge race and it was his first CX race and Linnea and Colin were there, probably on the run up, and I don’t need the bad blood. So instead I let him own me on it. Ugh. But last lap I was gonna dump all the bike blocking tricks on him and be first over the top, which should ensure me 2nd in the sprint of 3 just cause its so short.

Well, I made my pass on the bumpy grass, and I had Ben too, but not quite cleanly, and I was on his right and could have just stuffed it in the inside lane for the right hander onto the corn field road and push him wide, but again, I could not bring myself to do it and I braked. He exited the corner first, I had been flying and just braked all my speed off, but I was still in the plan, rather than reevaluating the plan. PASS BEN! So I lit it up hard down the road and passed him. I had a little gap but not much. Not enough. Not like if I had opened the gap out of the corner then punched it giving myself several bike lengths and them no draft.

Well, I figured I was better in the corners so I kept the pressure on and railed them, all the way to the barriers. I had trouble reclipping so I figured hit it hard all the way thru the barriers. Then of course, the reclip and all my advantage evaporated. So now I switched to rest mode and rode slow thru the chicane and sprinted hard onto the road. I did not get a gap so I sat up and watched their shadows for the jump. What I should have done was ANTICIPATED the jump and jumped hard before them, but instead the split me on both sides and they both just made it around me to the run, again as I did not want to be douchey.

They flew up the run, and I know third wheel up the run at Putney is 3rd in the sprint, especially with my poor reclip. What I forgot was that we had roadie boy hauling our ass in all this time and he appeared like magic on my right shoulder as we crested the run. I was totally taken by surprise. CRAP! I ran and tried to get clipped in but lost 2 or 3 pressure pedal strokes doing it, and only was able to launch late, drop one gear, relaunch. Meanwhile he smoothly carried a head of steam and just pipped me at the line, going way faster than I was. Crap.

So I went from 6th to 9th in about 15 seconds. Nice. More lessons learned. I bet this is good for me. It sure doesn’t feel like it. I had much better legs than previous years and thus my mind was engaged, rather than getting dropped off the group and groveling in I felt like I was among the strongest of the group I was with. Aaaand, I blew it. Again.

Maybe next year.

Went down to Paradise CX on Saturday because it was only 1.5 hours away, and it is at the Harpoon Brewery. Free beer is surely to follow, no?

Had never done this race oddly. Got there and was confronted with a SEA OF TAPE. Not like, a taped course running thru a field with identifiable lanes, but a field striped out with tape like white lines in a parking lot. It was ALL COURSE. Wow. I was sure that was going to be a sucky brake jam fest. I got out on the course, we were the first group to go at 10, oddly. So it was bumpy frozen grass, melting to greasy in a few spots. At low speed yah it felt icky. My legs also felt icky. Stiff and sore like at New Gloucester. And we know how that went…

I did two or three laps, realized I did not have my trainer, got pinned, and did 2 more laps with some sprints. I felt like I had the course figured out but the legs felt like shit everywhere except the two straights you could pedal, and they were short.

We lined up and I missed it again. Paul Weiss made a hole for me in the third row. I didn’t really know anyone as it was a lot of 45 plus guys, and Paul Curley and Carl CCR Ring.  Actually he has stayed upright much of this year, so now he needs a new name. Maybe Carl “Ow my knee” Ring? I dunno, hit me with some ideas. Chris “I am too big for pins” Milliman was also there. He had blown a pin pre race and I corrected it. He lined up in front of me, another pin blown open. So not PRO.

Anyhoo, off we go and I slice my way right up to maybe 5th. Fellow from the local team, Penguin Racing was blasted off the front. Paul Curley was 2nd wheel and let the gap open. I figured Paul knew what he was doing, duh, so I sat tight. Think it was John Buser up there. End of lap one and Paul has closed it down and we are a group of maybe 5 or 6 with no gap to the field. It was so tight it was hard to get a gap and hard to close one once it was there. Another Penguin guy kept chipping his way up to 2nd wheel and blocking, or something. He was clearly dieing and it was pretty dicey over the barriers (two sets) cause it was so narrow and tight. This made me very nervous.

2nd lap and Paul gets around Buser. I follow. I am sitting on Paul’s wheel the whole second lap. So far this feels slower than my damned warm up. Like, EASY. I felt I had the tire selection and pressure sort of nailed (34 fangos at about 22psi). I felt quick thru several tricky corners. I was HANGING OUT ON PAUL CURLEY’S WHEEL, making him my bitch!

This sounded ideal.  Third lap and more of the same. We are not opening up any gaps though and there are a line of people behind us. Erik Carlson was on my wheel, I was on Curley. Normally if I can get thru the first two laps, my legs are settled and nothing dramatic is going to happen to them. I had spent the first two laps chilling out, and here we were, looking at 3 of 6 laps and I am thinking, this is way to easy.  If I feel like its easy sitting on wheel in a Verge race, it means you are about to lose 5 spots when the train goes by your soft pedaling ass, you chump, get out there and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!

I think this is true, when you are 30th in a Verge event. If you are 2nd in a local event, on the wheel of the top favorite, I think it means you are winning this fucking bike race with an armchair ride. Aside from Paul Curley being the smartest, oldest, fastest dude in the race. Rocking the stars and bars. Yah…about that.

So Paul is chilling, riding along, sort of bad in the corners in my opinion, and I cracked. I couldn’t stand the pressure from behind and so I checked out. I said, lets GO Paul! and I went around lifted the pace. I didn’t attack, I just lifted the pace. I was gapping him a bit here and there but I was not trying to get away, just get rid of the baggage.

I actually thought to myself, in the moments before I went off the front, “Jerry, that is Paul Curley right there, pulling you around this race course.  Paul Curley already knows how this race is going to end. You really really really (three really’s) don’t be needing to go around Paul Curley right now.  Just fucking sit here and ride wide.”  Then I went around him. Then I thought to myself, I may even have said it out loud “Jerry, you just put Paul Curley on your wheel. Do you think that was a smart play?”

Then I accelerated.

I did that for a lap, with the (foolish, youthfully exuberant) mindset that he and Erik (45, been racing 30 years), who had also hung around, would just roll thru with me.  I can hardly believe I did not hear them smacking their lips and congratulating each other on their good fortune.  But I didn’t.

Thru the start finish for 3 to go Erik goes around me, which I was hoping for. Only he went around HARD. Like he MEANT IT. I did not expect that.  I can honestly say I have never led a lap of a cross race _in my life_, so its uncharted territory here. Little gap opened and Paul jumped across it. I gave chase, but I guess I was feeling my hard lap, though I had held back some, only going maybe 90%. Also, it had been so easy so far that I was sort of lulled into complacency. Erik went by and I thought oh I will just roll them up in these next corners like I had been doing cause this racing shit is so easy.

Turns out not so much. Erik drilled it HARD for the whole lap 4, Paul on his wheel. I dangled. I had about 20 seconds on Carl in 4th, and he was pain facing it. When he was on my wheel on lap 2 as I surfed Curley, he was breathing so hard I almost stopped to pass him an inhaler. So I sort of figured Carl was not going to be a problem. It was right around the end of lap 4, after chasing and not closing, that I sort of got pretty happy with the idea of being third. I decided to dial it back, be safe, and feather the gap to Carl lest I fall or have a bad patch, cause getting 4th would suck. I pretty much did that and rode comfortably to the line in 3rd.  Hmm. Needless to say, Paul jumped away from Erik to win.

I felt pretty stupid afterwards cause I certainly feel like I was the best “driver” out there that day, and had the measure of them on the other parts. But at racing age of 40, I was the young punk out there and surrounded by age and cunning.  I think Paul played me like a fiddle and knew exactly what Erik was going to do, and how long he could do it for, etc. He said as much to us after the race, over the free beers at the fire pit. So while I think I could have made it happen if the stars had aligned, instead I got 3rd and a lesson in Racing 101 from the man himself.

On the bright side, I was the winner of the 35 plus category and got 50 bucks! First money I have ever won in a bike race, except for that 2 dollar mercy prize one time at Claremont speedway in highschool for 3rd of 3 in a training race. Some girl beat me. True story.

Of course, there was no podium, no medal, no photo of me next to the national champ, and my kid chose to stay home and read Harry fucking Potter.  Story of my life.

Dah Weasel says it was the best weekend of cross EVAR. I have to agree. Seriously. Noho was my fav a couple years ago, till Providence in Roger Williams. And right up until last weekend PVD still was tops. But this year the course layout at Noho was brilliant. Corners you could pedal through as fast as you wanted, you only had to worry about clipping your pedal! Grip was amazing. Course was awesome, fast, turny without being annoying or feeling like you were turning, runs ups, ride ups, sand pits, OMG what does it not have?

Oh yah, and free beer. There I said it. Free beer. You can’t beat that with a stick.

Saturday I had a good warm up, great prep, laps on the course, etc. Feeling good, I drilled it hard off the line, deciding to be aggressive. I was up in the mid 20s on Matt Theodore’s wheel.  I was trying too hard, though, and wrecked myself a couple times in corners.

A group caught me and went thru me but I chased them down, passed them and wrecked. I repeated that process till with 2 to go, I caught on and they were all lined up in one lane going through the sandpit. I hopped over a lane to the left and passed them all with a great head of steam thru the first half of the pit! Dan Coady got on that wheel so it must have been a sweet move.

Of course, on the little grass turn it all went wrong and either I just stacked it or I got chopped as they exited, I dunno, but I went down and Dan go stuck behind me as well.  I ran it out but  the lead 3 were gone. I had Marc Van Der Bacon from the MAC chasing me (out of that group) for the whole last lap. Thru the sand I was bogged way down on the second pass and he closed it. He sat on my wheel and I slowed down and tried to rest, knowing anyone knick named FatMarc is gonna own me in the sprint.

Out of the 2nd to last corner, on the straight right by Team Row, I thought I might surprise him and sprinted as hard I could. I looked back and he was on me, in the drops, coasting. That was embarrassing. Thru the last turn I led it out and sprinted. I had a good jump but then I got nothing and he came around and dusted me like furniture.

I was 32 of 61. Hey, that is solid. Only 4:30 or less MBB and MBCB (who was 4th!).

Sunday was a better course, no run up which was hurting me bad. I had a tiny shift problem and asked Mavic neutral to give me a quarter turn on the low limit screw. 15 minutes later, if not more, and they had taken it all apart and handed it back to me all effed up. There goes the warm up. I hit the trainer and realized the shifting was pooned, so I diddle with it and barely got it right in time to line up.

As a result, I decided I better be a bit chill on the start.  I still had a decent start, on Matt Theodore again. After a lap or two I was on Gary David who had a great start. Matt was gone up the road. I decided it was 2 laps in so maybe I should gather myself. I sat on Gary for the better part of lap 3 of 6, and we had a group roll up on us for my trouble. I jumped around before the ride up gravel stretch as he had a bit of trouble on it. Sure enough I was clean and he bobbled and I had a gap on the group. I drilled it.

3 to go, 2 to go. The group of 4 was still agonizingly close, 5-10 second max. It went up and down. Dan Freaking Coady, who has a natural ability to haul my ass in with 2 to go, kept going to the front and bringing it back to one turn behind me. But I get on it and he kept popping and going back to 3rd or 4th in line, and someone else would take over. With less than 2 to go I was not sure if I should sit up and try to gather myself before the catch, or stay on it and roll the dice, knowing if they caught I was gonna lose 4 spots. Onto the ball field and past Team Row, I still had a gap so I sold out. The last lap was effing hard, and I buried it hard, and I was actually bringing back the two guys ahead of me. I got very close to Marc again, but not quite, but I held off the group of 4!  34th/62 which sounds crappy. I was bummed for half a second until I realized that I HELD OFF THE CHASERS FOR OVER 3 LAPS BY MYSELF!

That never happens. Ever. And it was windy and pedally and the whole nine. The easier sand pit and the lack of a run up for sure saved me, but hey, I will take it.  I was pretty proud of the effort and it was a great race, if not what people not “in the know” would consider a great result.

And of course, once again NOT top 50%.  Mr. 53%, that is me. Maybe Colin will change that metric on crossresults for me. No?

Anyway, best weekend of racing ever. Really. It was great. Thanks to Adam and JD and all the volunteers and everyone who raced and all that jazz, it was a great time!

Sooooo (eyebob, looking at you) I did not want nor need to race Canton. I don’t like that venue, I don’t like that geographic area, I don’t like that drive, I don’t like the playground location, and I don’t like the course. I also don’t like the race organization with the now famous Canton Bum’s Rush staging protocol. So, I stayed home. Heck, why not just race once per weekend? Crazy right?

Of course, I ended up spending all day in the office building the Blue back up. It needed a tear down and rebuild as the double shifter wasn’t doing it, and the cabling was crap, and the chain was crap, and the shifters were crap, and so on. Somehow that burned up most of the day, then I finally rode the trainer for 45 minutes at about 630PM. Then I went inside and got scolded for being gone all day. Fair enough. I had not planned on pissing away a day building a bike in what should have been a 2 hour session, but I had to totally re-set up the cantis and I had a major cabling mishap and so on. And I was being super anal. And whatever, it happened.

Sunday AM came early, window was opened when Sabine went to bed and I froze all night but did not wake up enough to go close it.  It was COLD and snowing and Noah bailed on me. So I was solo.

I got to the venue in time to poop indoors and get my number and get a lap or two in, but somehow I didn’t get on the bike in time and then had to repin (they moved the officials station, I never even looked, just assumed same as previous years)…next thing you know they are racing Masters. Whoops.

It was pretty nipple out so I did a lap around the outside of the tape, then I got on the trainer for 15 minutes then it was time to line up. Poop! Legs were stiff and sort of sore, typical rode too late night before after standing all day and not warming up on a really cold day sort of stiff and sore. I got my first on course lap in between call to staging and actual final staging – nice feature of a non Verge race, you can do that.

I lined up 3rd row, not ideal. Then I ONCE AGAIN managed to not clip in to my old school Time pedals cleanly. Man, I never had this problem with Candies, but I am a not clipping in mother effer all over the course with the combo of Specialized shoes and these old ATACs. I may have to sell these two pair cause its seriously costing me positions in a race and that is not cool. I was riding questionable run/ride ups to avoid the reclip. Seriously. And the starts? Shit that reaction time start is all I have, I can’t lose that!

So there I was mired back in maybe 20th by the time we got to the top of the course. I set about passing, which was going well. I told myself to just pass 10 people and be happy with the race if I could do that, with not great legs. I was slicing up the corners really well on the 34 Fangos, though I had not given pressure much thought and had 30-32 pounds in there. Pretty firm for a slick-ish cornering course. I was having a little trouble in a few key spots as a result.

After 2 laps I was up to about10th, and on a fast wheel (some dude came RIPPING by me on the paved climb the second time – I got back on him by the bottom of the course). We were set to rock and roll, lots of guys in striking distance looking ragged. Top 10 seemed pretty solid.  We motored thru a group of 4 guys, passing in the corners and especially the big fast left hand sweeper, which I railed no brakes and made huge time out of with the momentum. I was also riding the run up of the three 4x4s staked into the ground, but I was spinning the Fango on the top one a bit so it was dicey. Just wanted to avoid the reclip!

So there we are, 10th ish, headed into the last grass corner before the lower field with the HIGH SPEED BARRIERS which I totally owned. And I wiped out on an off camber downhill to uphill sweeping left to right chicane. Its a bit tricky and if you hit the wrong line you do end up in leafy kuck, which is where I ended up.   I went down in full race LEAN, outside foot weighted, trusting tires, fully committed, praying for grip mode. I lost grip at max G force. My first thought was crap, my shifters! Please don’t break! I managed to release from the bike and it slid off course under the tape. I kept going forward and right into a beefy wooden course stake. No step ins in Vermont, people. Lumber. I took the stake right across my left thigh, like a baseball bat. That snapped the damn stake and hurt like hell. Apparently I also punched the stake or something as I messed up the tendons in between my middle finger the 4th finger pretty badly. Its very swollen today and I can’t really bend it, which is problematic.

Now I have a permanent FLIP THE BIRD thing going on. Probably going to be helpful actually.

The crash and the dead leg dropped me back to 17th. I got going again next lap and in the last 3 laps actually had decent legs, comparatively. I worked my way back up through and picked up and raced hard with a younger guy from the NYCROSS team. We raced hard, but clean I think, and with just enough aggression and advantage taking and we were closing down on guys fast.  In the chicane at the back side of the field, after the HIGH SPEED BARRIERS he tried to pass me in the first corner and I defended my line, he tried again and I defended again, he never got his bars solidly past my hips but kept sticking the front wheel in there. I kept holding my ground, cause I race mostly VERGE MASTERS BITCHES! and this was freaking part of the down homey grass rootsy (and AWESOME for it) NYCROSS series. I had to defend my honor.  I wasn’t giving it away and if he wanted to pass me he was going to have to burn a match and do it into the wind on a straight section, not by ducking under me in corners!

I was not douchie about it at all, and it was totally clean just aggressive by him and aggressive by me back. My kind of racing! Giving it in the corners! I actaully said “That was FUN” when we popped out of the chicane. He then sprinted around me into the wind and I sat right the fuck on. Then I passed him back hopping the logs and got first line into the muddy twisty rooty section leading to the run up of DEATH. Which SUCKED. Oh my GOD that was hard. It was steeper than Putney. Much steeper. Like putting a hand down in front of you steep. Thank god it was only maybe 20 feet of vertical but it was a dirt ladder and it K.I.L.L.E.D me. And packed up my shoes, making – wait for it – the reclip impossible. So he passed me back and led up the paved climb.

Anyway, we ended up 12th-13th on the course. I sat on for half a lap, then passed him on the logs again, which I had a much better time with than him. I led / blocked  the run thru the mud bog and up to the hill of death. I kept the lead all the way to the pavement and sprinted once I hit the tarmac. I thought I had him gapped pretty well. Turns out he sprinted from the grass, thru the corner, and onto the tarmac and came around my outside. He threw the bike, I threw the bike, he got me by a freaking TIRE I swear. If I had been on the officials side I probably would have been given it. I felt him coming up my right side and it was a left hand turn to the line, and I drifted right ever so much, but did not block him, just made him go the long way around and hopefully think about it, as opposed to what I may have done years ago and moved left to give him room to work. Nuh uh. Age and guile. Age and guile.

But youth won out and he pipped me.

I had a huge black and blue on my thigh from the stake and the cold. He came over after and we shared notes, we both had a blast racing hard like that.

I then had 30 minutes to prep for single speed. Ugh. This was gonna be hard. And it was. It was a serious SS field as its part of the NYCROSS series (nice!). Front row was three teammates on carbon bikes, Edge 38 wheels, Dugasts, who clearly had not raced earlier. Yikes. there were maybe 15 of us, and not a single costume. A real race.

Off we go and I give it hell. The three amigos got a nice gap but I dug and got on that shit, into 4th. I managed to get around one and into 3rd! I felt pretty good, but the front two were a gear harder than me I think cause I was going balls out and railing turns and they were pulling away.

This lasted 2 laps. Then DAN COADY comes by me. He is 2×1 just like me which is why I went so hard at the start. Any handful of seconds you can get in SS pays off cause strong guys can’t just dump watts and pull you back. I was riding the corners really well, having aired down and just done a race. Really well. The front two were just 10 seconds up the road, one turn and a straight ahead of me all the time.  Dan came by me, smooth as always, and closed the gap to them, and passed 2nd place and was on the wheel of first place guy. The on the downhill of lap 3 his chain came off. I passed him back and was like HOLY FUCK PODIUM! I CAN PODIUM!

I sold out. I absolutely sold the fuck out. I think I owe the Devil a couple personal items. I knew I had to take advantage of any seconds Dan gave me to hold him off. I also knew I would fade bad with 2 to go, from past double experience. So I sold out. Man I just dug so hard. The run up the wall of death was a painful plod, just trying to keep moving. I can’t wait for pictures cause that will be the ultimate Jerry Painface. Wow. Then the run led right to the damned hill. The course is so hard for half a lap and so fun for the other half.

I buried myself up the hill. Two laps of this, and there is Dan Coady. Closing closing closing. Up the hill with 2 to go across the line and he caught me. Yes, I folded like a lawn chair. I totally couldn’t hold him. But I had brought the gap down to 1st and 2nd. It was a great two laps. Awesome. What its all about. Dreaming of PODIUM. Oh the motivation! It lets you slay yourself. And I just love the flow of the single speed, the focus on the perfect line, the momentum, every ounce of  momentum. And I was ripping that course up.  But alas, I was loosing seconds every time up the run, and the climb.

I held on to 4th for 2 laps, but he was closing some. I totally could not let up, and I hoped Dan might drop chain again. I did not mail it in, I killed it for 2 more laps. I hurt myself bad. It was awesome.

I ended up 4th. The guy in 5th had podiumed the 3 race earlier, it turns out. It was a quality field and I raced well.  If only I had the legs from the last 2 laps of race one and the first 4 laps of race 2…

Pictures to follow, I hope.