Races 7 & 8 are in the book. Saturday was the annual OCC Classic the Dogwood. I initially signed up for the 1/2/3 epic 106 miler but after seeing the field grow to 30+ I figured I'd not take part in the sufferfest & drop down to the 3/4(yes I pussed). Since it turns out I'm going to have to get the whole 25 points to cat up I figured I needed to start getting some points pronto presto.
Not to bore you I set a pretty good tempo up the KOM climb & got in a break of 6. 3 juniors, some foreign guy, & super Cat 3 Bruce Dunn, & me. We set a pretty good pace working fairly well together till the Elk climb. I guess since I drilled it up the KOM climb they expected me to do the same on the Elk climb so I sat on the front & just set tempo. I played it fairly smart from here on out till Dunn jumped on the last climb before Bradleyville. No one wanted to chase so I had to pull it back by myself which took a BUNCH out of me. So I sat wheels till about 300 meters to go & tried to take a flyer up the little hill knowing I didn't have a sprint yet. The sprint came down to 5 guys & yes Dawson I got 4th, where were you?
Coker's been watching Stars & Watercarriers to much. He asked me about 4 times to carry my extra stuff. I kept telling him I was fine but he just kept asking, this was the real reason I rolled off to get away from him, just kidding Jim. Coker had a great race & finished in the pack. Pretty good for a big boy. Coker even pulled me up the first climb of the day setting a hell of a tempo & kicking of a massive draft.
Today I got up & drove to Catoosa with the BMC North boys for a 1/2/3 crit. Dawson manned up & signed up for the 1/2/3 as well. No time like the present to get some experience getting your ass handed to you. The field wasn't huge about 25 but had some guns in it. I was impressed with Cale & Jim both working very hard. Cale about had me dropped several times. You have to give them kuddos for taking the leap to 2's knowing they were going to have to take they're lumps. Well they're doing more than taking lumps they're taking part. Oh yeah Dawson lasted like 5 minutes & started taking pics. Which I'll post if he can remember to email them to me.
I had a pretty good race. Actually went for a prime but the Felt needs a new shifter cable so couldn't get it in the 11 for the massive tailwind sprint to the finish, so got 2nd in the prime sprint. The backstretch had a 30+ mph headwind that blasted you with fertilizer(very Euro). At about the 60 min mark the field just shattered & I managed to get in chase group which I got dropped out of, but I managed to stay ahead of the solo winner & drilled it to the finish & almost caught back on to the break of 6 who were playing games for the sprint. Just as I thought I was going to sneak past them they went, so I rolled in for 8th or 9th depending on who's results you believed. I'm claiming 8th since the guy they payed for 7th finished just ahead of me(payed 7 deep of course).
Not to bad a weekend of racing. Now I'm going to take Huff's advice & rest for a few days before the NW Arkansas Classic next weekend. Have to give a big thanks to my sister who came for the weekend with my nieces. She cleaned my house from top to bottom. She's now welcome @ my house anytime she wants to come down. For that matter I'll give an open invite to any reader who wants to come and be my maid for the weekend.
how did the semi-pro boys do in the crit?
ReplyDeleteAt the 60 min mark it was over for us. Scott made it across... Cale and I were left for dead. I have never been dropped so many times in my life then claw back to the group. The Dogwood was a lap plus 15 miles. Being a Cat 2 was a great idea.
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