Friday night was marred with bad luck that destroyed my motivation. I got a great call-up, 20th, and an even better start, only to get hung up at the Yule Log Jam and lose all my places. Conditions were damp and slippery as the incoming dew made the course pretty treacherous. After fighting to claw my lost places back I finally called it quits. My second DNF in three years. I hated myself afterwards for pulling the plug. You never DNF, unless you crash yourself out and break something.
Saturday I was looking for redemption my work was cut out for me as I would be starting 36th, basically last row. I fought all day, the legs felt like they were coming back but I couldn't keep pace on the climb up the backside of Mt. Krumpet. It was frustrating to feel like you were faster than the group but because of one climb you weren't able to optimize your advantage of the rest of the course. Ultimately I'd finish 15th in the group sprint for 12th.
Sunday was going to be tricky. It was a UCI C1 race which meant points go 15 deep so I couldn't finish in the top 15 and still keep my Masters Worlds eligibility. I got balled up pretty well at the start when Robert Marion missed his pedal, this put me in chase mode immediately. But the legs were there. I was able to climb Mt. Krumpet every lap but the first and actually drove our 17th place group for a couple laps as I tried to escape. My efforts eventually shed everyone but Jeff Kluck and we were pulling in the 13th place group. As we passed the 45 minute mark I decided to sit up and keep my two place buffer to make sure I didn't score points. Still had to punch it on the last lap as there was a hard charging group coming up on Mike Sheerer and myself. 18th on the day, and a great weekend of training racing Elite.
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| Climbing Mt. Krumpet on Day 3 Photo: Roxanne King |
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