This was the day of wheel issues for a lot of people. Several friends had rolled tubies on Saturday and were operating on limited pit support. Shea rolled a Tufo in the first half of his first lap in the C race, after a great start and while he was in about 10th - but way far from the pits so he walked it in for his first DNF. Ah well, luckily for him, he got into the B race for his own reality check about how fast those guys are. My friend Matt took two wheel changes and I wound up changing wheels before the start.
Despite a bunch of protein recovery food, goat's cheese on crackers and steak on Saturday evening, my legs were feeling the effort. I resolved to only pre-ride the course (which included a longish climb) once so as to not drain myself warming up. Yeah, I was feeling that sluggish. About 5 minutes before the start I was spinning on the road to stay loose and heard something in my tire - arg! An open safety pin had lodged in my front tubular clincher - I hit the pits before my race for my pit wheel and some choice words.
The race: Front row start and a big Cat 4 field (22 starters!). Again, no callups, but I'm getting better at finessing my way to the start line where I want to be. I had a awesome start and easily had the hole shot onto the grass. This was good, as there was a tight turn and a small barrier right after the gentle downhill start and I wanted to choose my lines. I led into the barrier and for part of the first lap before being passed by a woman who had a lot of confusion before her race about which category she was in. (sidenote: if there's any question whether you should be in Cat 4 or Cat 1/2/3/elite, that probably means it should be the latter, and never reveal such confusion at the start line). After a strong first lap, the top 5 or so of us were still pretty tightly knit - Loretta was off my wheel again on her Superfly.
During lap 2 I was feeling the burn, so to speak. On the backside climb, 3 riders passed me, one of whom was absolutely flying up it. Loretta stuck on my wheel until the next time round to the barrier/log pile, which she was riding... I heard a noise over the barriers and looked over to see shock fluid leaking everywhere. She pulled off to the outside of the turn in a smooth getting out of the way move for a DNF. Bummer.
I spent the rest of the race battling to get Tami (who I practice with regularly) off my wheel. She claimed I was dropping her on the downhills - I think she was being kind, though. Either way, I eventually had a shifting error on a pitchy uphill and wound up off my bike - she pushed by and gapped me - I never could get back on. It was fun to be chasing people that I know and being pushed by women I knew would not fade behind me. My technical skills were on despite my lack of legs - I bottomed out a crank cornering once and nailed the barrier/flyover combo every time. Those steps had to be taken 2 at a time, no doubt. All in all, 6th on the day - reality check that I'm not really dominating the Cat 4's as much as my first two races might indicate. I'm pleased, but I had to dig really deep for that finish - 3+ minutes off the leader - the double was tough on me. It was all true Cat 4's, though I think that gave Lynda the second win for an automatic upgrade.
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