Full field tonight–35 riders. Could be scary. Would most definitely be fast, with several B race regulars joining the fun. Right from the gun, I was at the front, and promptly took my pull. Based on conversations with a few other riders, five second pulls seemed to be the ticket, so I counted…one, two, three, four, five…look over my shoulder. Err. Where’s everyone else? Six, seven, eight. Hitting the bump out of turn four. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Time to sit up, I guess. By the time I reached turn two, the pack was finally there and I slipped in. In retrospect, this was an odd effort. I should have either sat up earlier or pinned it. Instead, I did a little of both and burned the wick at both ends. Not good one lap into the race.
The pace stayed very high, and I stayed near the back of the group for a few laps. The lead group was pretty big, but riders had already been shelled out the back. I was careful to keep an eye on things to be sure a selection wouldn’t be made, but the group mostly hung together. I moved up, and the pace climbed, and I was struggling to hold a wheel. I finally settled into a rhythm and was prepared to ride out the storm. So much for an earlier plan of being really active and hanging off the front.
The pace settled down about midway through the race, and I was content to sit in and recover. Every few laps I’d follow a wheel to the front, maybe take a pull, then settle to back. At this point I just wanted to get back some energy and get a decent position for the sprint. With six laps (or so) to go, somebody took a flyer off the front and immediately had a good gap. Everybody seemed content to hold the pace and wait for him to fade. Three laps later, this didn’t happen. I noticed Eric and Rob (Iron City riders) moving into position to attempt to either bridge or pull the break back, so I hopped on Rob’s wheel and followed. Half a lap later we cut the distance and the pack seemed to take notice and picked up the pace. I pretty sure I screwed up my pull–Eric pulled off, said “short pulls, short pulls” so I pulled for maybe three or four seconds, then slid off. Too bad there wasn’t anyone behind us. Eric accelerated again, and I caught his wheel. A few seconds later the pack caught us, and as we approached the start/finish line, the lone breakaway rider indeed faded and was caught.
No rest for the wicked, though, with the bell lap. I held my ground, maybe fifteen wheels back, still on Eric and Rob’s wheels. Figuring Eric was trying to set up Rob, I stayed where I was. I futzed with my gears in the last corner, and probably started my sprint a bit too late. I still managed to pass a handful of people, and ended up ninth. Not bad. Not in the points, but not bad. I was in a small group of four at the line, and with a slightly more focused sprint, I could have taken another spot or two. Still, a good night overall, and certainly a good workout.
One more points race and the season is over. Nutty. What am I going to do for the next seven months?
Posted on 19 August 2008