Last year's citizens' race (I showed up to watch last year) had only about seven or eight racers, half of whom were sitting on mountain bikes. So I figured that Gat & I'd be pretty much alone on the course or with one or two others. But when we rolled up to the line, we rolled up alongside ten or twelve other riders, all on road bikes and all looking fairly fit. Yikes.
Off we went with Gatlin's parents, Mike (photographer of choice for Dan's Folly) & Connie (who said she was gonna blame me if Gatlin crashed - mind you, she tells me this not before registration but ten minutes before the race starts), in attendance. Gat & I pulled up front right off and traded a couple pulls with one other rider. The photo shows Gat (Navy jersey) pulling with me behind him. After about half the race, he & I'd done the lion's share of the work for everyone who was still hanging onto us - five or six people I guess (but I can't say for sure since I was always near the front). Come to think of it, I kinda tucked right in behind people rather than letting more than one or two riders in the paceline get by me. So maybe it was my fault that no one else did any work.
At some point in there, Gatlin hit a pebble or something with his back tire and skidded out a bit. He modulated the brakes perfectly and made a phenomenal recovery. Then I heard Connie's heart start beating again.
Anyway after about half the race was behind us, one guy shot past everyone and I decided the race was too short (20 minutes) to let a break get too far ahead so I pulled out of the paceline and went after him. Caught him in short order too. I figured Gat was still on my wheel but I looked back & he wasn't. Drat. Well that just blew our agreement to stay together. Sorry Gatlin. And of course the dude that shot out decided against his break after just half a lap and slowed back down to 19-20 from the 24-25-MPH pace he'd just set. So I passed him and kept on going. From there, I think I held the lead pretty much the whole way.
And miraculously I hung in at the front all the way to the end. I won the razzle frazzle thing. Gatlin held on for a very respectable fourth. On the way home afterwards though, I recalled that he told me he'd only eaten half a bowl of cereal for breakfast. That couldn't have been enough. With a proper amount of fuel (and without the need to expend extra energy on that recovery), I bet he'd have hung right in there.
But now I've begun to second guess my decision to register in the citizens' race instead of Cat 4/5 (beginners). I figured that Cat4/5 guys would be a bit more aggressive and a bit more under control, and that my inexperience would only have caused problems. However I'm beginning to think that maybe I could have hung with the cat 4/5 riders (at the BACK). I felt about as under control as they looked (we stuck around to watch them immediately after us). If we'd have absolutely run away with the citizens' race, I might have convinced myself that I/we shoulda moved up. But as it was, I only won by a couple seconds at most.
Anyway there you have it. I won a race. You likely won't hear that ever ever again. :) Regardless, it was really fun; and I've been told that the brand new Buick I won is in the mail. :) But I need to thank Gatlin for entering with me. I'd almost certainly have decided against entering again if not for his willingness to come along and to practice with me ahead of time. And to share pulls. :)
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