El Guapo riding 2nd banana in this pic. Great fast course. Great plan. Bad execution. Yes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Jono and El Guapo hit the pavement early Sunday bound for far-away Land of Norfolk. I confided in Jono my plan for battle. Primary plan was to come home with State crown for Criterium, Cat 4, 50-59 age group. Done!
That was the third stone to be gathered to complete the triad; State TT champ, State RR champ, and now State Crit champ for my category/age group.
The battle was won, but the war was lost. Mostly due to tactical blunders by yours truly. I came out of the gates slow. Trailed the first lap, but finally found my wind. Moved up and eventually rode up front. Led for a lap or two, but never further back then about 5th out of 27 warriors. I'm feeling in the zone and listening to heavy breathing behind. Then the weirdest thing. They stop the race about 1/2 way into it. We wait on a railroad train to pass by, even tho the tracks are never crossed. Bad juju for me. Gave everyone a chance to recover right when I've got the turbo diesel at wide open throttle. After about 10 minutes, we fire up for 11 more laps.
I'm riding up front again and then on the last lap, the wheels fall off. First , I get pushed way out to the curb by a some EVCC rider who didn't hold his line. I slow down to avoid crossing wheels and swerve way to the outside curve. People behind me screaming at me, but it tweren't my fault. I lost about 10 places, and tons of speed. Tactical blunder #1 by Guapo. Should have been the rider on the inside track on that turn, not on the outside. I was at his mercy. I paid.
Now I'm in big trouble. I take a corner real steep and catch a pedal. No wipeout, but big scare and I lost a fraction more time at a critical juncture. Tactical blunder #2: Should have stopped pedaling for a fraction of a second at that steep angle. Still, I'm about 15th coming into the final drag strip to the end. I'm gaining, picking off some guys. Heading towards a top 6 or 7 finish. But, wait!
Then the coup-de-grace! My right shoe comes out of the pedal. Tactical blunder #3: I knew I had a bad cleat and spaced off replacing it. I paid.
I have to pedal one leg for the last 100 meters or so. Left leg pedaling, right foot way out to the side. Guys scream past me and I fall to mid-pack fodder. Oy, that hurt. Rode the perfect race until the last lap.
Still, as Kanye sez, that which does not kill me only makes me stronger. Or was that Moses? Whoever.
All in all, great race tho. Felt pegged but competitive. Like the Governator, I'll be back! Bout time to break out the mountain bike for once.
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