I awoke to the sound of raindrops splattering on the bedroom window... This is from last years write up from this race and it happened again this year.
I had intended to race both the cat 3 and 35+ race, but it was really cruddy weather and I decided to do the cat 3 race and make the call after the race. That call was made immediately after I got into dry clothes.
Anyhow, I got there and the cat 4's were just going off. We had a good showing in that race with Adam, Rod, Rich, Ken and Jim. Jim said he rode stoopid and ate some bad things the night before which affected him. He'd last most of the race, but got dropped and turned in early. Ken said he wasn't 100% and spent most of the day muddling in the pack.
Adam got in an early break with one other guy and they had about 5-7 seconds on the field for a few laps. They got reels in on the prime lap and Adam got swarmed just before the line and was second for the prime (DRAT!). From what I saw, they would pretty much stay together the rest of the race. Adam and Rod would have great position the last couple of laps. With about 3 or 4 turns to go, Rod said someone really liked his position and dove in on a corner. They bumped and Rod ended up in the infield losing his spot in line. Adam led out the sprint from the corner into a stiff headwind and held them off for the victory. Rich would also end up in the top 10 with a nice eighth place finish himself to start the day off well for AFD!
The cat 3 race was a different story. It was just Mike and I. We knew a few of the players, but we haven't done a lot of Cat 3 races this year, opting for 35+ races. Mike was in the first break of the day. When it was caught a couple of guys got a decent gap on the field and someone tried to bridge. I decided to have a go at it. It was early, but windy, cold and rainy at Ninigret usually means long breaks can stick. I passed the guy in the middle and got to the two other dudes. Eventually, the guy I passed and another got to us and it was 5 guys. I was doing a lion's share of the work to get us a manageble gap. I kept telling the others to just pull up and out, but it never really got smooth. Guys wouldn't or couldn't pull through. I'd gap the break each time I'd pull through and slow to wait up. In hindsight, I should have just gone off on my own. We were out there for a 4 laps or so, got caught and BAM, the counter went and that was the winning move. Unfortunately, Mike missed is as I was recovering. He tried to get across, but it was too late.
With about 7 to go, I was 2nd wheel when Dave Potter (Bikeworks) put in a nice acceleration and opened a gap. I pulled through and told him we had separation. We kept working together and as the laps counted down, I felt as though we were going to be one lap short of holding them off. I was right as we got caught by one guy with just a little more than one to go. He just sat on though and the field caught us at the end of the finishing straight. I settled into about fifth position and as we came to the sprint, I was pretty cooked. I waited for the move and probably should have jumped a bit earlier, I got passed by a bunch of guys, but a few faded and I was coming on at the end a little and got a few of them back for a measely 11th place overall. It was dissappointing as I felt really good today.