18th/61
13th GC
The first day of September greeted us racers with primo weather conditions: sunny and 60’s. I awoke feeling OK. My neck glands weren’t sore and my chest was just a little phlemy. Perhaps yesterday’s effort sped the cure up.
Today’s event was the circuit race. We raced 2.75 times around a 19.4 mile loop that had 1 mediocre climb and a long flat finish. I was most apprehensive about this event as it is a bit more unpredictable in terms of how aggressive guys wanted to be or whether there would be a break. I really didn’t want to lose any ground on my top-10 standing. Both fears were realized today.
I had the luxury of a call up at the start line and the rest of us top-10 guys lead the field out for a neutral start. We enjoyed a nice fast descent on a newly paved road, but once we hit the flats thpack remained intact through the first lap. Teammate Stu Abramson’s legs came back around somewhat and was instrumental in keeping me intact with the group. I rode his wheel each lap from the bottom of the climb back to the top. I feel like I didn’t have to work any harder than anyone else in the group, hoping to save some strength for tomorrow’s big road race.
As we began our 2nd lap, a group of about 6 got away. But, I looked around and saw that the big GC contenders were still in the pack so I wasn’t too concerned. We gulped up a few of them after a while, but 3 were still away and one of them was the 11th place guy, so I was at risk of getting bumped out of the top-10. We stayed within 1 minute of them, but no one was concerned enough to reel them in. We had a chance with 5 or so miles to go, but the pack was unbelievably disorganized and no one wanted to work out front. So, they earned the sprint and KOM points, plus top-3 finish points while we had a massive field sprint. I came across happy to be top-20 in 18th place. The points should be spread out evenly amongst all of us, but I am relegated to 13th to make room for the 3 winners.
Teammate finishes:
Stu: 33rd
Mike: 44th
Paul: 53rd
Tomorrow’s road race will separate the men from the boys as there are 2 significant climbs. I’m hoping I’m a man!
Its tough getting pictures of racing when I’m solo, so here are a few for fun.
e attacks came. Some riders pushed the pace hard very early, forcing the pack into a single file line just to keep the wheel if front. Despite the unsettledness, the
Standard construction site for the boys:
13th GC
The first day of September greeted us racers with primo weather conditions: sunny and 60’s. I awoke feeling OK. My neck glands weren’t sore and my chest was just a little phlemy. Perhaps yesterday’s effort sped the cure up.
Today’s event was the circuit race. We raced 2.75 times around a 19.4 mile loop that had 1 mediocre climb and a long flat finish. I was most apprehensive about this event as it is a bit more unpredictable in terms of how aggressive guys wanted to be or whether there would be a break. I really didn’t want to lose any ground on my top-10 standing. Both fears were realized today.
I had the luxury of a call up at the start line and the rest of us top-10 guys lead the field out for a neutral start. We enjoyed a nice fast descent on a newly paved road, but once we hit the flats thpack remained intact through the first lap. Teammate Stu Abramson’s legs came back around somewhat and was instrumental in keeping me intact with the group. I rode his wheel each lap from the bottom of the climb back to the top. I feel like I didn’t have to work any harder than anyone else in the group, hoping to save some strength for tomorrow’s big road race.
As we began our 2nd lap, a group of about 6 got away. But, I looked around and saw that the big GC contenders were still in the pack so I wasn’t too concerned. We gulped up a few of them after a while, but 3 were still away and one of them was the 11th place guy, so I was at risk of getting bumped out of the top-10. We stayed within 1 minute of them, but no one was concerned enough to reel them in. We had a chance with 5 or so miles to go, but the pack was unbelievably disorganized and no one wanted to work out front. So, they earned the sprint and KOM points, plus top-3 finish points while we had a massive field sprint. I came across happy to be top-20 in 18th place. The points should be spread out evenly amongst all of us, but I am relegated to 13th to make room for the 3 winners.
Teammate finishes:
Stu: 33rd
Mike: 44th
Paul: 53rd
Tomorrow’s road race will separate the men from the boys as there are 2 significant climbs. I’m hoping I’m a man!
Its tough getting pictures of racing when I’m solo, so here are a few for fun.
e attacks came. Some riders pushed the pace hard very early, forcing the pack into a single file line just to keep the wheel if front. Despite the unsettledness, the
Standard construction site for the boys:
A creative statement by a Vermonter about the Iraq war, 1 white flag per US serviceman’s death:
This poster is in the condo. I have attended a bull fight at this bullring in Madrid:
No comments:
Post a Comment