The season opener was a great success in that we started off the season with a win! This time we approached the race as a 3 man team, yet hoping our 4th would show up. Three men, a bit unprepared for the season due to injuries and other responsibilities were up for the battle. Ken and family drove up Friday night to start the weekend camping while Mike and I came up in the wee hours of the morning. Mike was starting with less than 4 hours of sleep while I was starting with less than 6.It was great to see the many faces we had grown accustomed to seeing at these events. These events provide a great festival feeling as you race hard and then enjoy times with the other racers in between sessions.
Our plan of attack was to do two laps a piece all day long. Ken started, then myself and then Mike. Ken started a little easier than usual in order to pace himself all day. It proved to be a good plan as his laps were very consistent. Reviewing the results shows we didn't have the fastest times overall, yet most consistent and even among team members. I was able to follow suit and ride just a tad slower than Ken, yet remain consistent and feeling strong throughout the day. He did bring out his secret weapon, his girls who kept cheering him and us on all day. Mike started strong, had a few hard laps late in the day due to some lack of sleep and late week floor hockey. He came around later in order to finish up strong. This allows us to finish the day one lap up plus 4 minutes over second place.
The biggest challenge of the day didn't actually come from the open team division, yet from the solo division. Ron and Chris each had steller races which kept us pushing. It took up 5.5 hrs to pass Chris and we never saw Ron. We actually thought he was going to lap us which was baffling how one man could beat three. The end of the day Ron did beat us by 5 minutes and we only beat Chris by 5. Hats off to these guys as they are not human.
Big thanks to Vesrah Brakes, Trek/GF, Hayes, Sun Ringle, Manitou, Bidtool, Verizon on their support this year!
2 comments:
Hey, great job out there! When you went past, I really wanted to stay with you, but you were flying -- elbow and all! Congrats on the win and see you at Levis!
Thanks! It sure felt good to get out there again. The elbow has a few twinges and unfortunately I've had some numbness in my left hand several times this week. Levis will be interesting if we do it again with 3 guys. We'll see if I'm up for two 25 mile laps.
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