My recap is for my first ever crack at the Pro race. ***Note to self - these guys go FAST!!!***So from the gun it was hot and fast and somehow I found myself in 2nd spot drafting behind Aaron Snyder... not the place to be. I kept the pace up but before the initial climb I needed to tone it down and think about the long haul. So I pulled to the side and let the gaggle through. So up the first climb I was sitting 11th of 13 and was 10 seconds from 8-10th place as they were dangling in front of me. I knew it was useless to try and close quickly so I let it play out. One of the guys in front flatted and I just kept my pace steady.
By the end of lap 1 I was on my teammate BL's wheel and sitting in 10th. We crossed lap one in 37+ minutes and I knew he needed to go chase some guys for a shot at the series podium so I cranked hard and pulled him up to Greg Wagoner and let him fly by and get back to chase down those ahead. That pull HURT me. I had to dial it back and recover but stayed at a good pace. Lap 2 was ~40 minutes and a minute back from BL. Lap 3 was consistent but I was hurting from those early hard efforts. I was still strong but not fresh.
Almost to the last mile of trail and my rear tears and goes flat. Air it up - no good. Pop a tube in and no one passed in the mean time - SWEET! Cruised easily to the finish for 10th of 13in a time of just under 2 hours ride time(via garmin) - probably 2:03 total with the flat. Not DFL and I felt pretty competitive. I was hoping for 4 laps as posted but by the end of lap 3 I was glad it was 3 laps. Great day overall with some really fast company. Now I know how solid my training needs to be this winter. Game on!
No comments:
Post a Comment