Deer Creek RR

I knew I was flyin' the DH flannel solo for the race, so on the drive up I slipped some Beta Band into the CD player and contemplated how to approach the race. The smart lone 'horse approach would be to bide my time, save my energy, let the early laps play themselves out as the bigger teams worked out their issues, and then either make a move toward the end, or try my luck in the bunch finale. Chatting with Chip on the phone reinforced this idea, since he said the hills wouldn't do much, and the real feature would be the winds. (He was right--the only Turner rider in the cat 4 pack -- a skinny kid -- was getting blown all across the road all day.)

A danger with this approach is that if the decisive move goes early, you're out of luck. And that's what happened. Sometime early in the second lap, a Cyclesport rider took off, dragging a Team Dayton rider with him. Suddenly, the strongest team and the biggest team each had someone up the road. Danger. I chatted with the Anthem boys, and Dick and I even tried a move a bit later in the headwind section, but no go -- we just hung out in the headwind section for about a mile. I tried to prolong the move with another Anthem guy, but same story. Just as I was sucking wind back in the pack, trying to recover, some riders in a crosswind section went to the front and drilled it, stringing out the group. I almost got disconnected, but managed to get back on just in time to watch a Panther rider leave the pack and attempt to bridge.

After recovering, I got to the fourth lap with the 2-man break a minute up and the Panther rider somewhere between. The pack seemed deflated, and the speed dropped. I decided that I'd rather try to make something happen and finish off the back than sprint for fourth (especially because the sprint was downhill with a cross tailwind, and was likely to feature a group of 20+ cat 4s choosing lines at 35mph -- no, thanks). So in the headwind section I eased up the left side, tapped another solo rider who'd been complaining about the lack of activity a lap earlier, and launched. Nobody came, so I buried my head and tried to dose my effort. At one point it looked like they'd given up, and if I could make it to the turn I might get a little assist from the wind. Then, head down, I discovered myself in the gravel on the side of the road; I recovered, looked back, cramped, and saw the pack getting closer. So I sat up, hung on to the end, stayed safe in the sprint (especially after my hamstrings locked up), and finished.

So, yeah, kind of a "meh" race. On one hand, mediocre placing in a race dominated by (smart) team tactics, and a day of dodging riders dealing with crosswinds. On the other, I got to race my bike in the sun, I tried to make something happen, and it was all good fun.