28 racers. Warm. Humid. Kinda windy.

The pace was mostly pretty reasonable, and there were lots of attacks. Nothing stuck, though, due in part to the group chasing the moves down and in part to the winds, which discouraged solo efforts. I mostly stayed in the group. The few times I thought I could cover a move, I was boxed in and really couldn’t move around. I did manage to help chase down one move, and put in a sad, sad, sad effort at one of the primes (I suppose I need to lose the “happy to be there” attitude and burn the wick at both ends a bit). The group was, as usual, a bit wobbly in the turns, and I’ve decided it’s almost better to be a bit higher in the turns, as racers tend to just drift down in the corners, meaning you either have to hit the brakes or move over the inside line.

One odd moment–two riders were off the front. I moved with a small group to chase them down. I put my head down for a moment, then looked up and saw one of the riders in the grass in the turn. Huh? You’re in a break with one other person. How did that happen?

I managed 10th, after being ill-positioned during the final lap and not exactly going all out on the sprint. I’m content, though I should have done more during the race, given the generally reasonable pace, and I should have perhaps gotten out of the saddle in the sprint. I’m bummed I missed the points, though–I’d like to finish in the top 10 overall, and I’m sitting just outside in 12th (funny how I’m obsessed with my results after not really caring much about these silly races earlier in the spring).

Another observation–if you are sitting in the top ten-ish heading into the last corner, either actually sprint or sit up at the beginning of the lap. Trying to maintain a reasonably straight line in the sprint whilst dodging riders with their hands off their bars isn’t cool. Take a lesson from the master or something.

Posted on 8 July 2008