Category: 4
Result: Mid-pack

On Sunday, I was the sole FFBC rider at the BHRR. The blustery weather was quite a contrast to Saturday's perfect temps and sunshine. I guess the rain kept some folks away...our "full" field of 50 Elite 4's had only 41 starters. I arrived in plenty of time to get signed in and do a moderate warm-up on the trainer. Suprisingly, my legs didn't feel too bad after the previous days' Cat's Hill effort.

The race started about 10 minutes late with a short uphill promenade from the staging area to San Pablo Dam Road. One poor soul flatted about 10 feet from the promenade roll-out. I'm not sure if he made it back in. We reached the main road and began racing. The race started out dry, but the roads were still wet from rain the night before so we were all quickly soaked from the spray. Fortunately it wasn't too cold so the wetness really wasn't a bother.

In general, it was pretty uneventful. I just tucked into the pack and made sure i was close to a wheel at all times. It was windy and i knew if i got caught out in the wind that I'd be history. The climbs were tough but i managed to hang with the pack each time. By the time we got to the hilly section on the third and final lap the pack had dwindled to about 25 riders. Up the penultimate hill I hung on to the pack. So now it was just a downhill and up the final Pappa Bear climb. Finally some action started and the pack began to string out with one uphill km to go to the finish. I was toward the back and just beared down to try to stay close. I played see-saw passing and being passed by a few riders up the hill. Then finally with 100 meters to go I felt better and did a slow-motion sprint to pass about 4 riders to take 17th place. Overall I'm pretty happy with that result as a starting point to build on.

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