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What Mike Z. saw:
Category: 5
Result: 2nd
I went to WOT with my riding partner from work, Lance. Brian J. was also in this race. Within the first lap of the race, I realized that there would be no breaks that would get away for very long today. The pace was just too high and the wind too strong and Brian et. al. kept reeling in all the attacks.
I, on the other hand stayed at the back of the pack until 3 laps to go. Lance and I had discussed our strategy and he was willing to pull hard at the front for a couple of laps so that I could finish with a good sprint. All I needed to do was stay on his wheel. Our strategy worked well for about 3/4 of a lap when others gathered around us and I lost Lance's wheel. I let myself get pushed off his wheel too easily and I am still not comfortable enough cornering.
On the last lap, things really got moving. I clocked us at 34+ going with the wind into the second corner. I moved up into position on the back straight and around the third, penultimate corner. There was a guy 20 meters off the front and a group of 6 behind him that set up a nice echelon left and right so I positioned myself behind them and got a great wind block. I got squeezed back a little going into the final corner, but they were all gassed whereas I felt great. I pedaled past those 6, but couldn't pull in the winner. I was coming hard onto his wheel but ran out of real estate. I guess that I should have started my sprint earlier.
I am really excited with second, and I actually got a prize this time and a good one at that. It's two months of personal bicycling lessons. I'm not sure how many lessons that is, but I will certainly ask the trainer to help me on my cornering. His name is Fred Whatley and is a Cat 1 rider for Pacific Velo. Anyone know anything about him?
Special thanks to Lance for leading me out near the end to at least establish good position from which I could attack. Lance ended up in 8th and thought he could have done better if he hadn't sat up to watch me finish in all the excitement. In his mind, he was thinking of launching me and realized too late that he had not done near as much pulling as he had expected since I lost his wheel and that he could have put on a better sprint of his own.
Thanks to Brian too. I saw him working hard at the front for much of the race. Our jerseys really stand out pretty well. It was very obvious where Brian was as the front of the peloton rounded a corner. I don't think it was his plan but he helped me by pulling in all of the breaks as I soft pedaled like a lazy arse at the back.
To keep with this year's theme, there was of course a crash. No one was hurt badly and it was good to see one of the guys get back into the race after the crash.
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What Brian J. saw:
Category: 5
Result: Mid-pack
YEP!! That's exactly the way it went down. I think Mike and Lance where eating lunch back there. Smile!! Smart move guys. My plan was not to let anyone to get away today. I got the feeling they didn't like it. O-Well!!
We had a full race 50 racers, my average speed was 24.6mph. I ended up in 30th. place got caught in the middle and there was a second crash. This guy was a trip. He was trying to squeezes in on the far left. All of a sudden I saw orange cones flying!!
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What Tim saw:
Category: Masters
Result: Top ten
I too was honored to witness their race. It was just as described. I was very impressed with how Brian stayed up front and how much real estate Mike and Lance made up. I think they were still about half way down in the field with one lap to go. It was fun to watch! Great job! Mike, would Lance would be willing to joing our team? He seems like a nice guy.
I too did pretty good at least for me. At the start of the race I was pleased to see the Postal boys didn't show, but I did see Dole, Sek and Caldwell, so I knew I'd be fighting for forth. From the second lap on, I was pretty much planning how to set up for the finish, watching the wind and different riders styles. Dole was attacking throughout the race but couldn't make it stick.
On the last lap he did it again, and then Sek took off and went by him. The rest of us hung around for the sprint. I was set up behind Caldwell about two wide on the second to last straight into the wind, then it slowed and I got boxed in from the right and was now sitting in like 15th! As we rounded the final corner, Caldwell hit the afterburners, someone pulled a pedal and it bunched up on the right, I pulled left and jumped hard and put space between me and all but Caldwell and two other guys and got 6th! Wow! I won $10!
I also saw Paul there, who was admittedly tired from doing the track last night. I left before his race started.
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