I told Carson that the goal today was simply to stay toward the front of the race and always be looking to move forward- not easy with a field of 180 riders and LOT of turns. This one always comes down to a bunch kick and has plenty of crashes. 90 mins is a long time to be riding 28 plus mph!
Todd,
Wanted to check in tonight before racking out. Going into the crit, I had several different objectives in mind for the afternoon. Like we spoke about, the most critical thing for this afternoon was to avoid losing time – or at least large quantities of time before the Sunset RR tomorrow afternoon where the race will be settled and decided.
Before the race, I again was able to make some good preparations and wen through a steady and rhythmic preparation to the race.
After a bit of time on the rollers to spin out the legs, I rolled a few laps of the course scoping out the corners (all 11 of them, good/bad lines, as well as where the good/bad sections of pavement where. I was ready for staging and had a descent spot onthe grid behind the 30 riders who were called to the line.
From the gun, the pace was steady and high. Early in the race, I had a hard time getting going, and tried to hold at least a mid-pack position while the rhythm of the race settled in and the systems re-warmed up. As I began to work back towards the front, I suffered a flat rear tire. Into and out of the pit, and back into the race I went. I went back to work trying to pick my way up through the field.
Most of the second half of the race was about avoiding all of the crashes, flats, and rolled tires. Despite several close calls, I went through without an issue, and was riding descent position in the peleton when we got the lap cards with 10 to go. As more riders fatigued and took risks, the last 10 laps where quite nervous, with even a lap or two being nuetralized due to a big crash. After I found Chris late in the race, we were riding near to each other and helping eachother to close gaps and hold descent position. Coming through a left-right series of corners, a rider in front of us flatted and went straight through the corner, taking us to the curb. With the free laps no longer in effect, we chased the bunch for a couple laps before realizing that the pace up front was more than we could do on our own. While Chris pulled back on the throttle, I rolled the last couple laps at a tempo pace hoping to minimize my time losses before tomorrow.
After the race, I hit the recovery bottle straight away, before doing a cooldown spin with Chris and Larry. Back to the cars, we changed and loaded up for dinner and the drive backto the house. Back at the house, I had a small plate of pasta and meat to top off the tank before tomorrow’s battle royale on Sunset. A little Trigger Point, and I’ll be ready for bed.
Tomorrow’s Sumset Road Race is the queen stage here, and certainly will be where the big gaps and differences are made. I’ll be coming out swinging and ready to suffer for 12 full laps before rapping up my first ever Redlands experience.
Regards,
C-
