Weather:
Course: S .8 mile circuit with gently turns that ends each lap with a 8% short climb. Cat 4 Race 22 laps.
Spark Players: Duane A Young-Kershaw (Cat 4 & Cat3/4), Chris Lake Cat 5
Being that Chris and I we doing the epic weekend away racing (how often do married guys get to do that) I decided I needed a little pick me up! The product is still pending USADA approval!
| Rock Hard Weekend is NOT an official Sponsor of Team Spark Road |
The Race: Chris and I arrived early so he could get set up for the "Cat 5" clinic, in my opinion a waste of time for some who are getting their "required races" in until upgrade. It was once again COLD so I watch Chris suffer thorugh his "Clinic"standing around listening to some other riders life story on the bike. I'll leave it to Chris to add his report.
My Race:
Cat 4: We lined up at the start line and received the usual pre race instructions while freezing our butts off. We starteed the usual first lap at a leisurely pace, which enabled me to talk to a few guys I hadn't seen since last season. The first time that hill was OK, I was suprised at that as I felt the legs would be a little spent from the day before. The race continued on with some attacks here and there but quite frankly with the wind that was whipping up in the back it was impossible to make an attack stick. This make me happy as my forte is typically sprinting (usually not up an 8% grade). The race droned on with some restructuring in the pack. This occurred as you were going up the hill you caould use both sides of the road as opposed to the rest of the course where "the yellow line rule" was in effect. This means you ride on the right side of the yellow line but with no official following there are time when you do sway over. No matter where you were it was bunching up at the top of the hill so keeping position was key. I managed to place myself in the top 10 with 3 laps to go with the intent of maintaining that postion to set up well for the sprint......got that bunch up effect goin gon again on the last lap and felt I was poorly positioned for the sprint. I decided to give it a go any way as I felt I could gain some places on th efinal climb. I did OK as I started about mid field back but had chosen the wrong gear going up the climb. Cranking at 75RPM at the end of the race is not fun, I did manage to go from 20th back to finishing 9th, not bad. I feel my sprint is on and coming into form, ready for this weekend where at the Chris Hinds Crit where I will be tackling back to back the 4's and the 3/4's.
http://bethelspringseries.com/results/2013-bethel-cdr-gold-race-results
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