It was ACA picnic night, meaning everybody raced, and the Cs raced in the dark, mostly. Good thing I wore my navy blue jersey. And forgot my lights for the ride home.

The pace was really fast from the start, thanks in part to some B race regulars making an appearance as well as a prime a lap (at least my oxygen-deprived brain heard a bell every lap). I was struggling to hold a wheel, and there were several times I thought it was over. Gaps were chased down, though, and I managed to hang on until the group sat up a bit later in the race. The group was jittery tonight, and there was lots of drifting in the corners. On the last lap I was guilty of drifting inside a bit on the back straight, as I followed someone diving below a group who had sat up. I should have moved to the outside, but live and learn, and don’t do it again.

I managed sixth place (provisionally), again, though the initial move away from the group sucked much of the oomph from my legs. Still, not a bad result, and I would have been chucked to just finish with the group. At least last week’s result wasn’t simply a flash in the pan.

Also, I got an appreciation of the work the marshals do during our race while what Sebastien and Oren mix it up with several other kids on their bikes riding around a traffic circle in the infield. I’m not entirely sure how there wasn’t a wreck.

Posted on 1 July 2008