Today was a frustrating day, but I got a GREAT workout. Today's race was on the same course as yesterday except the wind was out of the south instead of the east like the day before. Also, the wind was stronger. I figured with the wind that a break wouldn't be able to stay away. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong.
I found myself without teammates today, so I decided to see how things would pan out and make decisions along the way. Right away, as the race started, the pace was faster than the day before. In one of the first few laps, a break of 2 got a way. For quite a while, the field kept the break at around 10 seconds, but then the break started to increase the gap. At this point, I decided that I would put in hard efforts to try to bring the break back and encouraged others to help out. I started pulling about 1/2 of the next 5 laps. Now, it was the stretch with the wind and the other stretch was downhill, so it was the easiest part to pull, but you don't put a 190lb, 6 foot 2 inch guy with broad shoulders to pull up a hill or into the wind. There were a few other guys that decided to help, but very few. Thanks to those that helped try to bring the break back. It was all for not as the break caught the field with 4 to go.
I was spent by the time the finish came around from the time I spent chasing the break, so I only managed 13th out of a field of around 25.
On a brighter note, one of the guys I coach won the Cat 5 Masters race. We went over the plan before the race and he executed it perfectly.
Next on the schedule is Batavia. I have no idea what to expect for this race. It is a very technical course, so taking a technical course with a Cat 4 field is always a little nerve wracking.
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