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What Tim saw:
Category: E4
Result: 5th of 50ish
Teammates: Wendy
Saturday Drive:
Keith and I made an agreement earlier in the week that I'd drive him
to Tahoe so that he could pick up a Jeep he'd bought from someone off
craigslist. Since we didn't have anything planned for Saturday after
the race, and figuring that Chico and Tahoe were both sorta north/
east of the bay area, we figured it would only be a couple of hours
to Tahoe from Chico. haha
Well, it turned out that google maps led us astray again, telling us
to take a shortcut that cut through folsom to get to 50 from 99. That
shortcut probably cost us an hour. After all was said and done, we
made it to South Lake Tahoe in 4.5 hours. On the way back we took 50
to 5 to 99 which was actually much faster. We arrived back in Chico
at ~11pm after only 3.5 hours of driving.
Unfortunately, Keith wasn't very lucky as the Jeep he bought was a
jacked-up monster jeep, with no windows and only a bikini top over
his head. I think he only had a sweater to drive home in and I doubt
the Jeep (circa 70's) had a good heater. To top it off, it was cold
and raining in Tahoe. He must have had a terrible drive home. :(
(insert sleep for 6 hours)
It rained almost all night at Chico and we awoke to sprinkling and
lots of puddles. Wendy and I suited up for the crit. There were a
couple of parked cars on the course so we were delayed for around 40
minutes while a tow truck moved them. We eventually started around
8:40am with a nice wet course. I took my spot at the back again.
Unfortunately, the guys up front railed it on the first lap and we
were strung out. Guys were started to leave gaps by the second lap,
so I had to work my way around people aggressively because I didn't
want to get dropped.
Eventually the pack slowed down, but there was a break of 4 up the
road, which by the middle of race was out of sight. I was content to
ride at the back until a prime bell rang. I went for it, thinking
that it was a pack prime. But no, I had won non-pack prime from
within the pack - good times. With a couple laps to go, I started to
work my way to the front again. On the second to last lap I was
fourth wheel. I moved up to 2nd/3rd going into the last corner to
start the last lap.
At this point, I figured I had nothing to lose because the best
placing I could get was 5th. I attacked our group going into the
final lap and went as hard as I could. On the back stretch, I began
to falter a little bit, but when I looked back I saw I still had a
decent gap of maybe 15 yards. I kept hammering and hammering. When I
rounded the final corner and looked back once more, I saw that I had
a 10 yard gap. I gave it what little I had left in the tank and
crossed the line in 5th place holding the pack off "Chris Coble
style", but only for 5th.
I'm happy I finally took a chance to attack on the last lap, and that
I was able to hold the pack off for an entire lap. Even though there
a break of 4 up the road, it was still a good feeling to win a bunch
sprint.
Sunday Drive:
We drove home after the race and it only took 3.5 hours. All in all,
I probably logged close to 16 hours of driving this weekend and 3.5
hours of racing. I can't even imagine being a professional bike rider
and all the traveling they must have to do.
Thanks Keith, Wendy, and Del for the good times --- it was a blast. I
am definitely looking forward to an overnight race weekend next year.
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