· With the SC State RR under our belts and fresh in our memories, DS, Perry, and I head over to Graham, NC for the NC State this past Saturday. Joe F had DS on a hard week of training and I had decided to ride hard throughout the week. Which turned out NOT to be a good idea if you want to race with the senior citizens of North Carolina…… (Perry of course was coming of tough duty of hanging out in Hawaii with no training). 50+ field …but it is the old 60 Dave LeDuc who will once again set the tempo and capture the overall win for the day. That guy is just amazing.
3 laps of 13 point something… 40 mile race with a 1 mile climb shortly after the start/finish followed by a series of bumps then a run in to the finish. The race went out at a moderate pace climbing the wall at a reasonable pace…. Then the attacks started…. We rode a smart race staying the near the front and going whenever the Big Dogs went…. All together coming through the S/F and heading for the second trip up the wall….. accelerates to 22mph on the climb.. then goes at the top…. Big surge as a selection is attempted……we all hang …. Then attacks… go bring it back…. Attack… go bring it back…. DS yells “on your right” LeDuc is moving up…. Gary Jackson goes we follow…. No one gets away…. Past the S/F for the final lap…. I feel good …. We head towards the wall…. Pace is getting higher… we start up the climb … LeDuc goes up the right…. Perry chases around the left with a pack behind him closing …. I am heading up the right… crest . at the back… it accelerates again… Perry is gone…. Gap forming… I am redlined…DS comes around “lets go big guy” … I try but no legs.. heart is spiked … DS rides away glancing over his shoulder… I tell him to GO… he latches on to some riders and I am falling back… recover, recover… DS is with a group but have lost the pack, I am further back and losing ground… hitting rollers…. Descent … right turn…. Feeling better… pick up 2 riders… DS and a group of 3 are a 400 meters ahead.. the pack another 500 meters… the gaps growing bigger… Back on stride… starting to close.. dropped my riders and slow up so we can work… pick up another rider we now have 4 riders working together… pacelining… catch DS who has spent all his quarters as we are heading towards the run in….. 6 of us…. 2 in my age group, DS and 2 in 50-54…. I tell DS to go to the front for a lead out at 500….. he misses the sign for 1K then for 500, I move to the front and go right before the 200m mark….. accelerate and hold it to the finish… passed at the line by a 50-54 guy….. well out of placing for my age group.
But a great race.. Perry did a great job over the first 2 laps and DS tried to get me back… Big thanks to them, but not enough… in that small window that decides a race….. DS’s wisdom “we did a helluva a lot better than last year….. a hard race, a very hard race”… DS’s powermeter shows he has set a new PR in Watts, HR, and just sure pain for a RR… 40 miles in 1:38. Me … I rode well, finished strong with a 36 mph sprint…. But 90 seconds cost DS and I with 10 miles to go…..
That’s bike racing.
2 comments:
Bird moves up to 60+ next year. He is going to podium. We will be better!
I sure want to ride like you guys when I am 60! Congrats to both of you.
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