State RR

Tyler, Drew, Steven, David, Dan, and myself all entered the Category 3/4 race up in Avon (and Trench was in the 5s).

The course consisted of 4 laps around a 17+ mile loop with a few rollers, a fairly good hill at the end, a couple fast corners, and a good amount of headwind.

This was the first race I did with more than one or two teammates. Most of the guys usually enter the Masters 3/4 race, but decided to give it a go with the longer, regular 3/4 race.

The first couple laps were easy for me, Steven, Tyler, and David did an excellent job of shepherding me around and taking the wind. The first crash happened in front of me at the end of the first lap; a couple guys tangled up on the climb and went down. We were going slow, so it was easily avoided. It was really nice to have a stand-in DS who knew how to race guiding me around. I usually get antsy and end up on the front taking lots of wind. Having a couple 'consciences' to keep me from burning myself out was nice.

Third lap came around, and David ended up plowing through some gravel (shoulder ended, no warnings). He got back in the group, but he front flatted maybe 5 minutes later. Bummer. Steven also was off at that point; both him and Tyler were driving the pace for a while trying to reel a break back in.

Ends up that David got a front wheel from the official's car, was pulled partway on by Steven, and motorpaced the rest of the way on. That's when the bad wreck happened. There was a fast, sharp corner. I was up at the front, but could hear the crunching of bikes on pavement behind me. After the race, I hear that there was a couple guys closing the gap, hammering with their heads down. The group bunched up, and they didn't stop in time. That ended up taking about 4 people down, and gapping as many more.

I looked around the group, and it was just Dan and I from Cat6. We both got in the large rotation driven by Mark from Grumpy's trying to chase down Koble et al. A cat 4 rider got off the front with a few miles to go, so myself and a Flanders rider took a jump off the front to try to either bridge or motivate the pack to pull him back.

There were still about 20 of us together at the final stretch of the race. I was feeling good, and wanted to get a bit of a jump going into the final corner so I could climb without obstructions. I tried hitting it into the headwind, gapped the group, but was promptly brought back. Oh well.

The final climb came, and things were going alright. A few guys got around me, but I was making up ground. Finish was coming up, and I kept on upshifting. Soon I was in 34-11. I was pedaling as fast as my lactic acid-laden legs would allow. I crossed the line right after Dan. We got word a few minutes later that we finished 1-2 in the Cat4s. Kick ass.

Thanks guys for guiding me along, keeping me out of the wind, and keeping me from doing anything stupid. And thanks for handing out bottles Meow and Amanda! I never realized how much of a difference teammates can make. And your efforts definitely paid off with the 1-2 Cat6 finish!