More than a few riders went down. I managed to stay on the bike, always a plus. And I did make the lead group Nick Waite, Joe Dombroski and Andy Guptil. Guptil double flatted. The gravel did take its toll and I ended up with a slow leak. In an attempt to make it another 4 miles to where the cars where parked, I stopped in the middle of the dirt road (almost got ran over by the pack) and then chased hard to catch back up. Lucky for me, the lead group had reformed and the pace backed off. Phew... I didn't get much rest and then it was the final 14 mile lap. Nick set a blistering pace. I was doing about 550 watts on his wheel for the 90 second effort, Ouch...
We had fun attacking on each other with no mercy! On the final lap's hills and pave sections I snuck a few seconds on the twisty dirt road decent through the forest. I seemed to have the two wheel drift dialed. I punched it everywhere I could get traction. The duo of Waite and Dombroski closed down the gap but I went again when they least expected the open highway stretch. Didn't work either. It would come down to the final steep 1k gravel climb. Nick cracked a max attack effort showering my front wheel with gravel. It was everything I had to match his jump. Dombroski was gapped. Though I could not go faster I knew who ever entered the downhill first would likely take it. I gave it biggest gear I could push to harness a few more watts and drop the gravel pit descent first. It was just the 6 seconds I needed! 650 watt final climb for 45 seconds on soft gravel.
Afterward we hung out and had some food and drink with all the riders that took on the challenge. It was great to see everything from tandems to tag along bikes, hybrids and club riders.
Next stop: Sea Otter Classic!
Oh, sign up to follow me on Twitter. There's going to be a Cannondale contest, and when Cannondale has a contest you can bet there's going to be some cool prizes! (Twitter.com/JeremiahBishop) You can also join in at on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeremiah-Bishop/191133684022?ref=ts)
Jeremiah
Labels: Racing, Viva le Burg
posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 6:40 PM 
