Masters Nats. RR

After poor planning and running behind schedule for the TT, I erred on the safe side and got to the RR course nearly an hour and a half before or start time. It was still pitch dark and the place was deserted. I found the feed zone and it was exactly where I suspected it would be, on the finish hill about 200 meters before the line. I took my time getting ready, did a warm-up lap then just stayed loose while waiting for the start.

We started basically on time at 7:00. 12 laps for nearly 60 miles. I estimated there were about 60 starters. It was on from the gun. A break of five got away halfway into lap one. The first four laps were hard. I tried to stay in the top 15, but the pack was very animated and I was rarely successful at maintaining my position. The break got as much as 45 seconds on us before the chased started in earnest on lap 5. They were reeled in with four to go. Almost immediately another break of five went up the road. They put over a minute on us in very short order and that was it. Another three took flyers in the last two laps, so then there were eight up the road.

I was feeling strong on the hills all day and had been able to maintain or better my position in the pack. The major hill on the last lap brought on some slight crapping in my quads, but it was nothing I couldn’t ride through. I focused on maintaining my position in the top 10 and was sitting seventh wheel at the bottom of the finish hill, 600 meters from the line. We hit 500 meters to go and everyone was out of the saddle. I moved up several spot with one passing me as we crested the hill. A second biped me at the line, so I finished 4th in the pack sprint with two of the flyers just a second in front of us. 12th overall out of 52 starters. The break finished nearly two minutes in front of us.

I’m happy with the result. I pretty much stuck to the game plan, conserved energy and stayed out of the wind. The corners were fast and, at times, technical, especially when riding further back in the pack. The break with four to go was something I knew to look for, but did not recognized until it was too late. Overall it was a very good learning experience and I felt I rode well.

Kurt scored 36th in the 40-44 RR. Good job Kurt!

Next up? Crit at 12:30 on Sunday.