After Saturday's race, and more importantly the way my legs felt Sunday, I was glad I got time for a good warm up. 4 laps... one in zone 1, then up the pressure to zone 2 for lap, then do another in zone 3 and 4 with a sprint at the end to get the heart rate up, then an easy one to roll it out. It's probably the most deliberate warm up I have ever done. The good news was, my legs felt fine.
There was a pretty big crowd with 60 riders between both A and B races. SBR had 5 in the nearly 40 strong A field with Rick, Gary and I being joined by Dave and Chris. Dave has now done his duty by attending one Westlake for the year, Chris was in for his first ever. We talked about covering the moves, trying to get someone in every thing that went away. I was sceptical that it would work, as Chris had no idea what he was in for.. so my plan was to try to get into a break that looked promising, and follow the accelerations often to get some good speedwork for the night.
Off we go, and they ring the first prime as we cross the line, so there's no free lap today. I worked to stay near the front, but with the acceleration I was still about mid pack. Through for lap one and we're racing.
So mostly the normal stuff. A few attacks went, they were pulled back.... second prime was for cash. An attack went, it was pulled back, somehow I found myself fourth wheel at 200m with some guys that I expected to be going for the prime. At 100m, I jumped a little, got over the top and rolled in for it... looked back, and had a pretty big gap again. So I was wondering if I screwed up and sprinted for nothing... doh! Whatever, if it was a prime, I won. If not, no harm done except looking like a fool.
A few more attacks, and I started following the moves. About 4 laps in Paul Martin decided to bridge to the break. I saw him stand and jump with Brent Evans on his wheel, Pete Baughman and I also went with, and we were away. Coming through the start finish, it looked like Brent was having issues with Paul's wheel as a gap started to open. So I decided to jump across and help out. I came around Brent hoping he'd jump on, but he missed it. I made Paul's wheel, and settle in for the ride. We made the break, and they all sat up. Hmmm... It all comes back together.
Another prime lap, they ring the bell, someone attacks, and I think Paul went to pull it back again. I was close, and when Paul pulled off, I pulled through and put in a bit of effort before pulling off. Then Dave came around me and I told him to go for it. He shifted down, and finished off the split. He ended up near the front, and jumped for the prime at 400m (he admits that was a bit long), then thought better of it, or was pulled back. From my spot, I watched Dave jump again near 200m and drag race Tris Hopkins to the line, narrowly missing out on the point(s). A valiant effort, which may have turned out different with a few more Westlakes under in the legs.
So that's was the night. Follow wheels as they accelerate to make, or bridge to, a break. I followed all kinds of stuff. Martin, Batke, Hopkins, it didn't matter to me... and I was committed to working also, not just sitting on.
Chris must have been watching the play book, cause I looked up and he'd made a break of 3 or 4. His break didn't last long either... none of them did. But it was good to see the attempt on his first outing.
Another break got away about 10 laps in for yet another prime. Coming out of turn one, Dick Brink made a jump, and I got on his wheel. I pulled through and let Dick know I was working when it looked like Dick was about to sit up. We made it across to the group of 3 including Batke and another RGF and had a decent gap. So we started to work the back side. Heading into the S turns, I see Gary come up along side of me, with another RGF and Rick, and I'm shocked!!! MY OWN TEAM JUST CHASED ME DOWN!!! What is this? The break sat up figuring why work when we were caught. Then I realized that the three of them had bridged the gap... shooting for the prime I guess. So I shouted, "GO, GO GO!". It didn't matter, the bridge killed the break attempt because the first 5 thought it was the whole field, and then we didn't get organized again before it really was.
More jumps, more responses. I was feeling pretty good. Coming in with 2 to go, Paul pulled another group of 5 away... and I thought this was it. Paul, Tris, Baldesar, Stephan... and me! Four of the big guns that could haul this around and keep it away, and I had made the split... Paul pulled off, and everyone pulled through... I was totally commited to tunring myself inside out to work with this break. I'm fifth wheel, for 5 spots, Baldesar pulls to the front, and I give him about a 30 second pull before coming around, and going hard... and no one pulls through after me... I'm crushed! I'm not sure how these guys decide to or not to work yet.
From there, just the craziness that is a field sprint. I was somewhere deep in the field as we came around for the last set of turns, and didn't get any wheels to carry me back to the front. I ended up coming in somewhere in the top 20, but didn't really get to open up my sprint. Rick managed to be near the front, and came in somewhere in the top 10.
Overall a good night, the whole team was active, and we all got some good work in. I checked after the race, and I had indeed found my nose across the line for a prime. Another $5, and this time it was a real, front of the race prime, not like last week. Funny, last week it was $3 and there were 3 SBR guys. This week, we had 5, and the prime was $5. Everyone gets a dollar!
On the "Learning to be a better bike racer", I have to figure out what makes a break go. I was probably in 4 or 5 good groups with a decent gap, including the last one. I think that I was just happy to get into the groups, and took a few breaths before thinking about working. I've often heard that when you catch a break, you should go straight to the front and pull. Looking at what happened when Gary and Rick bridged, I can see why that is so important now. I did the same thing a bit earlier in the race when Paul pulled me up to the first break. Paul sat up on the catch, and so did I. I should have gone straight to the front, and done a pull indicating to the group that we still had a gap. It probably would have also told Paul that I'm not just being a Remora.
Remoras attach themselves to larger fishes for protection and access to food. They are opportunistic feeders, eating leftover scaps of the prey their host is consuming.
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