Tech Tach Teicher

SLOW AND STEADY DIDN'T WIN THE RACE

Not sure what was going on with this race today, but as always, TWO BEE Road Races are never predictable. This one was a 27 mile 4 corner RR. Not a very large turnout of 12 riders but two Cat 1 racers (Lee Venteicher & Jim Cochran) entered and three Cat 3's, so plenty of opportunity for fun and games.

Adam Price came out for some racing, sporting his new Zabriskie mustache. I figured that would slow him down a bit, but still, he was all that was standing between me and a plate of cookies in the Cat 3 division (I decided to stop grabbing the 12 packs of Michelob Ultra's as trophies because of my inability to abstain from drinking them prior to races or training rides), so I tentatively 'marked' his wheel.

The rest of the field were basically Two Bee riders. This ended up being a very slow paced race. At one point, I was 'pulling' at about 50% of my max and decided to let someone come around as there were a couple of riders up the road, no one did, as I glanced at my spedometer reading 14mph. I could have braked to about 9mph, and I still would have been in the lead of the chase group, as it seemed everyone was waiting for Lee or Jim to attack, while simultaneously not obligated to chase because their teammates were up the road.

So, the breakaways were left to dangle, as we weren't chasing. The one that got away contained Adam Price (ICCC), Mike Edwards (2b) and Gary McNabb(2b). So, it wouldn't have been prudent for the Two Bee Riders or Adam's teamate (nate moenk's brother) to chase, leaving me, Lee and Jim with this task.

I respect Lee and Jim as accomplished racers, so I figured they were going to time the catch accordingly, as the breakaway wasn't all that far up the road, and we weren't even breaking a sweat to keep them in our sights. I have been burnt by Cat 1/2's way too many times, bridging up gaps only to be dropped right after the pull, so I will admit I wasn't much help.

So I waited... and waited.

I couldn't stand it anymore, as I saw we were about 1.75 miles or so from the finish line. Were we too busy marking each other to realize Adam was about to win the race?

Not sure, but they had enough of a gap at this point to win, so now it was time for the field sprint? I don't really like taking my chances with a group sprint, so I just took off by myself with about 1.5 miles left to go.

I had a good gap, as the rest of the field reluctantly reacted. I had the three leaders just ahead of me, and the rest of the field just behind me. Perfect motivation to keep pedalling hard.

Yee haw, I held off the cat 1's and the field, but didn't quite get up to the breakaway, so I finished 4th. Sort of felt like a mini-victory, because a 1.5 mile TT style sprint was sort of a gamble that doesn't always work out.

Congrats to Adam and the Two Bee Racing team for the win.

All good... because since that race didn't end up having any attacks, I have plenty of energy left in my legs for either a long ride, or maybe a TT in swisher tomorrow.