Raced the Bariani 123 this Saturday and had the distinct pleasure of lining up with a solid group of racers from the BBC. Got pinned and lined up. Plan was to stay at the front but in my typical fashion i drifted to the back and got warmed up. 2nd lap i moved up to find the team-mates. The group was so big with tight restrictions on the center line that it was easy to sit in but fighting for position was not so easy. I found I had to try to be very conscience about moving up or I slid back fast.
There were 2 climbs on opposite ends of the course with the longer being the KOM. These were not too much trouble but it got the HR up. Right after the climb there was a fun cross wind section that really made work. The is where the race was won or lost (in my case)
Last lap Dylan and David offered to work to get me to the front but I declined not feeling well enough to take advantage of such a generous offer. Felt more like taking a worker bee position but really appreciated the offer.
Last lap - here we go. We hit a tailwind section and the far right side is WIDE open. David is close and on the outside so i give him a whistle and shoot to the front. And there i was on the front. Don't know about you but i love being on the front - fantastic. Specialized was up there doing there thing and going fast. I jumped in and took a few pulls because i was up there and well that's what you do at the front of a fast race. Hit the smaller of the climbs 2nd wheel and there was some surging as people came up both sides. Looking back I should of stayed on the gas going over the top, it was a dumb time to ease up.
As somepoint someone came around and moved over pretty quickly into my front wheel...there was contact and I started leaning into the wheel as I began to tip over...the wheel cleared and I was able to stay upright yeehaw but that was close. Specialized dude yelled at me a bit to pay attention - looking back he was right im in charge of my front wheel - might have been starting to get tired.
We take the final right and its a narrow long death march to the KOM climb. Im sitting top 10-15ish maybe and try to stay near the front. By the time we hit the climb im probably 25th spot but am working to get up that hill. I'm not really sliding back but there are surging riders going up both sides. One of them being Neil.
Before the turn to the crosswind section there is a crash and I see a puff of smoke, seems a Specialized rider went down. Get around that and hit the cross wind section only have my legs say ya your not gonna power through this and catch those 20+ guys ahead of you thundering down the road. Great race. First time this year I actually attempted to stick my nose in the finish and had good positioning near the end so im happy. But the legs will be punished for running out of watts.
Neil finished a strong 7th
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