Date:
13 November 2005
Location: Folsom Lake
Category: C
Distance: ? minutes
Field: 18 finished 25 started
Conditions: 60ish degrees
Teammates: none
Coming off a shocking win the day before I blew
my winnings of $5 eating a big lunch ($5.69) with
my friends in Sac before I drove home to get a
good nights sleep in my own bed.
Got there around 8:15 and my race was at 9am.
I was a little rushed but the series down there
is so laid back and mellow it was no big deal.
We started a little late but all was good. I pre
rode the course 1.5 times and scoped out the barriers
and the sandy spots. The course was more technical
with 1 good size run up with a barrier at the
bottom. I new I wasn't feeling as invincible as
yesterday.
1st lap was brutal I did a better start and was
6th over the 1st set of barriers I was happy to
be in such a high placing so soon. But man I was
hurting. I know why they say don't do intervals
2 days in a row. Your body doesn't like it one
bit. I sat in 6th for half a lap then saw the
5th place guy was a little slow in the straight
sections and thats my specialty. So I passed and
made some good time on him in the straights but
lost time in the technical stuff. Go figure a
roadie that sucks at off camber sand and leaves...
So any way I wasn't gaining any time on the 3
guys ahead of me and I was huffing like a mad
man trying to recover where ever I could. The
steep run up did not help. I saw the 5th place
guy slowly reeling me in and I knew my only hope
was to go all out on the pavement sections to
gain ground so I could lose it everywhere else.
The final lap came and the 5th place guy was close
way to close. The 3rd place guys were gone so
I was happy with 4th place. No medal but that
would move me up in the standings for the series.
With half a lap to go I see 1 of the 3 lead guys
and it looked like he had taken a fall and was
getting on his bike as I passed. He stayed on
my wheel looking for a place to pass but the rest
of the course was single track and he was going
to have to take a sketchy line to pass me. I knew
he was upset that he had fallen because I could
here him yelling at himself. I went full throttle
taking a few corners way too fast and passing
a couple lapped riders where I shouldn't have
but I wanted a bronze medal to add to my collections
and as I made the last turn I knew I had enough
of a gap for a comfortable 3rd place victory.
So not a bad weekend of racing.
Next race is next weekend:
Watsonville on Sat and Golden Gate Park on Sunday
Travis Tonn
San Jose Bicycle Club
Racing since 1939
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