Monday, May 12, 2008

West Virginia : One bitchin hill after another!

Well, I got my first taste of racing in the bigger hills this year. It started off with some fast decents. I rolled off the front without really trying. I wasn't attacking, but I didn't want to be in the pack in the beginning twisting descents with riders whose ability I was unsure of. One thing I did know is my wheels did not disappoint. God were they fast. Without even trying I was rolling away from everyone in a coast. They worked pretty well uphill too, though I'm still just a few pounds too heavy for climbing this serious. I had a teammate marking the eventual winner who in turn got a bit annoyed with Aaron sitting in. Eh, tough toenails dude, this is racing. Just wait til we get to the races where gravity isn't quite as big a factor. I worked him over in a sprint last year, I'll do it again this year. I got cracked off within a couple hundred yards of the top of the first really big long climb. It started with a quick punch up a steep hill then a long winding steady climb. after a few miles of that, it finished with another steep punch and I just didn't have it. I rolled back to them on the descent, but unfortunately, there was another 1/2 miler that was fairly steep. a couple hundred yards into that and I knew I was done. I also knew that there was a fairly good rip down to the halfway point. I was working with another rider who'd been yo-yoing off the back on the climb. He could give me a break on the flats, but just didn't have the power to do much there. I came within spitting distance of the front group of 3 riders (mixed classes). Unfortunately, we turned into a headwind and that was pretty much it, or so I thought. In the end, I finished up riding in with a rider who came up to me and we both were pretty blown out. The rider up front must've really had some issues, because we came in less than 30 seconds down. A bit more agression and we might've been able to take him. He wound up bailing on the mountain bike race the next day so maybe he really did cook himself. I guess a second place isn't too bad, but I'm still a bit disappointed.

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