Race #1

First race of the year in the books. The guys putting this race get an A+. I would have bet on the way there that there was going to be 4 cat 1/2s and that we'd go off with the 3s, but there were 11 surprisingly. Still a small group for a 35 mile circuit race with 30mph winds. Brian Jensen was racing, it seemed no one would attack or follow attacks unless he was going. After the first lap a guy got off the front. We were chasing somewhat, there wasn't really any organization with all the wind, you could barely speak to the guy next to you. Finally on the 2nd time up the hill they rang the bell for the kom point lap, this meant the next time around the top 3 places would get points. We started going a bit better with kent and brian taking a few pulls. On the flat section on the tough road before the climb Brian attacked, kent bridged bringing everyone with him. Kent got up to him quick and at this point the man off the front was probably 10 bike lengths ahead before the turn to the climb.

Jensen and Kent go again at the bottom, I am behind 3 dudes. The first dude gets a gap while the 2 dudes in front of me keep it steady. Eventually I look up and the guy in 3rd is about 12 bike lengths ahead and 100 meters from the finish. Its the steepest part of the hill and I could see he was tired, so I attacked my guys, jumped up 13 bike lengths and got the remaining 1 point.

I sat up after the points, Kent and Jensen were coasting down the hill. The guy I jumped went after them and I pedaled along and about 10 seconds later I was joined by 5 others. We got going across the dam, catching the 3rd placed rider with only kent and jensen up the road. We had 3.5 laps to go at this point. There were only 3 or 4 of us taking pulls of the 6. Eventually after a lap or 2 there were only 3 of us. We were still pulling strong but going across the dam the final time we could see that we weren't going to catch either of them. I took some big pulls anyway for fun. I'm pretty sure the 2 riders I was with were faster up the hill. They both had small rings that worked and looked more fit, lighter. I was debating whether I should attack before the hill to get a gap. Instead they both attacked me 1 after the other on the hard road before the turn to go up. By the time we started the climb I just kept pedaling and left them for the 3rd place points.

results here. Well done race officials. I heard the winner of the kom cat 4 lap got a skateboard.