Tuesday & Thursday Races

Things were more on the "normal" side of insane this week.

Rode out with Jeff and Jeremy again on Tuesday in 95 degree heat, got them signed up and rode the back of their pack for a while, playing taxi whenever they looked like they needed it (if I thought they were too far back, or on the wrong side of a split, I would ride up, put them on my wheel, and ride them up into position).

The 1-2-3 race started out with a bang again, but not quite as bad as last week. Speed varied greatly, and a few times I thought I was going to get popped out, but the bruisers would slow up just in time. On the last lap I found myself near the back, and started riding up to the front through the chicane. I picked up 2 teammates, and decided I was probably better in position to lead them out than go for my own finish, so we went cruising up the inside of the pack, got pinched a bit on the last corner, and I hit the gas to get up with the front and stay with them while they started.

We were riding counter-clockwise this week, so the finish straight was flat. It's about 500m long, so I'd already done lots of work and had a long way to go. I drilled it to start my leadout and stay on the wheel of one of those aussie kids, and by about 200m to go I was cooked and wondering when the hell one of my guys was going to jump around me. I finally looked back and saw no one there, so I put my hand up and eased off the pack, and rolled in somewhere in the pack. Turns out they'd both lost my wheel in the final turn.

Per my computer, exactly 28mph for 30 miles.

Thursday's 30+ race was a bit slower. 30 guys, of whom about 8 were from the MOB team, 3 from HART, and the rest of us flying solo. Speed varied greatly from leisurely 22mph up the hill to eye-peeling accelerations, but I hung with everything. With those teams so well represented, and the series-leader on the HART team, I wasn't interested in doing any work at all on the front unless the leader (Carlos, a cat 1) got in a break.

About halfway into the race, this former Vitamin Cottage guy Chris went off the front and got a sizable gap. One of Carlos' teammates rode to the front to start reeling him back in, and I hitched a ride on his wheel. Sitting second, I still wasn't interested in doing anything - as a member of the unofficial ad-hoc "Not-Mob-or-HART" team, anyone else who went off the front was more than welcome to have at it. The HART guy chasing Chris down started flicking his elbow for me to take my pull, which, of course, I had no interest in doing, so I just sat there. I even sat up a little bit and let the HART guy ride away.

So Carlos comes up beside me, steaming, taps me on the hip and says "if you're going to sit second wheel, you have to pull!". I just laughed at him - I don't know who the idiot is here, Carlos, but I'm pretty sure it's not me. I'm not your stooge today.

Good times.

Anyway, I screwed up my positioning for the sprint and had to come from waaaaay too far back, and netted an astonishing 10th. That gets me one series point, which hopefully keeps me in 3rd overall for the finale this week.