Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Rainy Day

5.31.10 Memorial Day Masters Weekend (ABR)
30+ Cat. 1-4 / 5th


I hadn't fully committed to racing today so when it stormed a couple hours before my race I decided that was a good enough reason to skip it. However, I was equally uncommitted to not racing so when the rain cleared and the sun started poking out I changed my mind again and headed for registration. Committed. I pin my number, get dressed in a porta-potty, get my bike ready, start warming up...and it starts raining again. So I rolled to the start irritated and certain I would crash - the just punishment for my indecisiveness.

As the race started I decided I would either get into a breakaway or die trying, with a twofold reasoning in mind: 1) it would make the race more interesting and hard; and 2) it would increase the likelihood of my bike and I finishing in one piece. Within a couple laps, three of us were off the front. Within a couple more, we had become five. Mission accomplished. Each time through the Start/Finish the announcer called out the split between us and the pack... "18 seconds!...37 seconds!...52 seconds!" With only about 10 minutes to go our lead was close to two minutes and it was clear we were not going to get caught. Now it was time to figure out how I was going to win this thing against several guys I knew were stronger than me. Hmmm, that's tricky, but I had something up my sleeve.

The break soft-pedaled the last couple laps as we eyed each other and waited for somebody to make a move. Who would go first? I stayed on the front and waited, ready to pounce on an early move. Waiting...waiting... Nobody's gonna go?? You leave me no choice. As we rounded a corner onto a slightly downhill stretch about halfway through the final lap, I jumped out of the saddle and sprinted as hard as I could in an attempt to create a gap I could carry to the finish. "Surely nobody could have matched that devastating attack" I thought as I looked back to survey the damage I'd done. And there they were - all four of them - glued to my wheel as if I hadn't done anything. Crap. I did my best to recover and keep up but at that point it was a lost cause. Unable to keep up to contest the sprint, I rolled in well behind them - proudly displaying an open-palmed celebration of my 5th place and wearing a big smile. Glad I decided to race.