Sunday was gonna be a goodie.
I did this race last year with Double and Merkeley, and snuck off in a early break, the first and only time that one has worked for me :-)
This year the field was much bigger and the guys were fresher, as well as no teammates.
0330 am the phone rings. Wrong number.
Now I'm up and thinking bike racin'.
I drift back off and it rings again at 4:30.
Party party party at the Quality Inn.
Now I'm up.
I think about going over to the race early to race with the young bucks, eat a little sumpthin', then fall out for 15 minutes, when my alarm goes off.
I slowly move my stuff to the car and make my way to Starbucks on the course.
It's still dark and the racers signing up look fresh, overly alert, and very young.
I decide I can't deal with this crap right now and go back to the car and drink a couple of cups of java and talk myself into getting on the trainer and warming up at least.
MAsters 4/5 goes at 9:20 and the warmup is better than I expected, the soreness from yesterday is gone and the fire in the belly is coming around, I stage up as we watch the womens' 3/4 race.
This crit is my all time fave, the 180 was dry this year and you could push it if you had the right line/ gear coming out.
Big representation from CVC, Simply Fit?, and Action. Centurion.
The race starts agressively, with many splits with all the teams represented, but in the 4/5 ranks people often are too conservative/ chase their own breaks.
We all gotta learn, no?
Both Nelson and I are in just about everything, and the primes are nice and fat, I got a nice bottle of wine for the team party this year!
1 to go and I got myself boxed , I was trying to keep up front and hold a position,but with the field fanned all the way out and no team driving, very hard to do on the wider spots.
We hit the main drag with the barriers and I decide if I want it I had to get up now, so I sprint up the hole next to the barriers and grab 3rd wheel, behind the guy that won Merced when I went for the woods by borrowing my spot in the lineup.
This fine fellow has downgraded after a few years at the upper levels and is a nice wheel to follow, so we urge the CVC guy on the front to line it out and he jumps for the chicane., with me in the hip pocket.
FOS, FOS and we make the turn with 160-175 meters to go,and I just tried to not screw it up, and managed to get around him on the line.
Big time atmosphere down in Fresno, lot's of great racing for the lower categories as well, and a incredible race organization that helped me all weekend. If they didn't have the answer, they found someone who did.
Incredible the amount of work going into this thing, all benefitting local charities.
Thanks again, CVC!
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5 comments:
I used to ride a bit with the guy you beat, back during my time (as in, sentence) in Merced. He's a good egg. And a fast sprinter!!
Yep, he's a nice fella and cna think it out well.
And thanks for the advice, I was falling apart at the seams during Crit Deux.
Man, I'm in awe Gianni. That is just too cool!!!!
And there is a similar analogue?
I thank you for the help in this question. At you a remarkable forum.
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