No Diesel, No Nitrous

Wente RR. Up and down, get blow around. Oh yeah, burr, cold.

All started out well. Try to sit back, don't blow yourself early, that's the plan. Phipps should be hitting it on the climb, but there is no way he is going it alone. Way too windy.

On the second lap, Copperopolis again. I drop my chain after passing over 580. No power, and I come to a dead stop mid pack (I think I now fixed it, though I should have taken care of it earlier (not quite fixed, but now shifts back on without having to stop)). I put my hand up, but can't help but feeling like the idiot for the midpack dismount. I keep it calm and get it on, but now it is time to get back on.

Slow and steady, I claw them back, but now I am in the back, and it takes most of the lap to get up front without violating the centerline. And when I get up there, something is gone. Oh no, here it comes again, urge to chase.

Of course, all the right teams (wrong from my persepective) are represented. I keep the pace up an bit, but not full throttle, cuz I don't want to get spanked by the counter. HK reminds me of my tendency to help others at the expense of helping me, and I slip back. But on the little bump on the back side, a split happens, and I am now in a chasing group. Game on. We catch the group at the old start finish line, and I look to protect my nose from the wind.

Penultimate finish climb, and I make rookie error in my positioning. I'm toward the back. As the line stretches, I snap. Sleepless week. Damn academy. Can't ride on Wednesdays hurting my training. Dam academy. One more time, damn academy.

Well, I see the lead group go, game over. Oh well, ride hard with my fellow stragglers and get a workout. We claw back half of the deficit by the final climb, but as I said above, game over.

Afterwards there's time for a mini lap with HK. He knows where he is going, but stops to ask an attractive course worker directions. Dirty ol' man. While going through the post race analysis, I start to bonk. That must be what that gooey stuff and bars in my back pockets were for. But wait, they were hidden under the vest I was wearing, no wonder I forgot to fuel. Stress too. Damn academy.

Maybe I'll do the get dirty thing next weekend.