Plus 1!

More Darkhorses than I knew we had lined up for the 3/4 Ault Park Plus 1 event his past Wednesday: Coach, Tin, C to the A, Quarterbackhorse, BBoy (who got a special haircut just for the event), Kaiser, Matt B, Bad Boy Bill Hoffman (two weeks in a row!), and yours truly.

Over burritos the week before, we had discussed a loose plan: Tin and Bret would be the presprint guides and team lieutenants; CA, Coach, and Bill would drive the front and chase breaks when necessary; Matt would be pure bonus, since he's still getting up in the middle of the night with his new daughter; Dan, Alex, and Shannon would sprint as their legs permitted. Chris, Bill, and Matt weren't there when we decided their roles, but they didn't seem to mind. Wednesday night before the race began, we decided that Alex and I would go for the odd # sprints, and Dan for the evens, including the biggies at #20 & #40.

And as a team we were good, and smooth, and communicated well, and things worked out pretty well overall. Oh, sure, we didn't produce the winner. And we didn't make the podium. But we raced together as a substantial team for the first time all year (and first time ever for me), and we worked our roles. Four Horses scored, led by Dan. By comparison, only the dominant Dayton (who grabbed the first two podium spots) and the cheeky Hungry boys put as many riders on the charts.

And I just gotta say: after forcing myself onto strangers' wheels all spring, it felt damn good to look around, find Tin, or Dan, or Bret, or Bill, or oh-man-do-I-really-have-teammates-to-choose-from?!, and know whoever it was, was going through the pack to get me to the front for my kick.

My favorite moment of the race was lining up behind Tin for a sprint and just as I started my kick, I heard Alex on my wheel yelling "Shannon, GO!"

Don't have to tell me twice.

What a great time. Troy Classic, anyone?