Jason Eiserich, Snelling 35+ 4/5

Hey Masters,

WOW....what a TEAM!!! A Top of the podium finish, podium finishers, and some top 10's!!!! Lot's of BAT points collected at Snelling! Our depth and potential are second to none! And this is only very early season....

It was a great race....lots of wind, cold, and speed.....I ran into a
couple of masters racers at the Merced Crit today (I wasn't racing,
just spent the weekend with a friend in Merced and figured I'd get to
downtown and catch a bit of the crits today)....the comments...."DBC
is the real deal...way to dictate the pace early on, work to keep
things interesting throughout the race, and finish strong....you guys
made the race a RACE!"....You think the all the other teams are
taking notice?! Think they will be looking out for DBC at Merco RR?!
You betcha! ;-}

From my own perspective/cross-eyed lens.....

Neutral roll out.....cool...feelin good....moto ref DROPS the
flag...we are off....DBC DROPS the hammer immediately.

Steve N, Robin, Lee, Will and myself at the front from the start
hitting it hard....24 mph....25....27....30 mph....taking turns
puttin the hurt on....believe me...I felt it! More or less for the
first 10 miles...InfoVista (previously EMC2) rider who I remember
from last year leans into me and says..."Dude, you guys are
hammering....we've just lost half the pack!"....OK...first deed
accomplished....

Ouch...should I have been at the front like that?? Probably not
right now....late last season, yes, but right now....definitely
not....Is it me that will be dropped off the back next?

Drifting back into the pack....Holding on....trying to conserve and
recuperate....no power meter, no heart-rate monitor....but my
'hurt-o-meter' was pegged....and I'm thinking....oh, ONLY 40 miles to
go.....ugghhhh....Derek goes to the front to relieve us....THANKS D!
I was very thankful and he hammers it hard....I'm dropping back
quickly....or were the rest of guys going forward....not
sure.......damn, derek looks freakin strong up there!

Hanging on....back of the group now....damn, the pace just quickened, and I'm at the back, guttered....oh crap...a DBC'er off the tarmac....Nelson!....jumps back up over the big lip in the pave...get him on our wheel and back we go to the group....OK...back to the group.

another lap down....somewhere about in the middle of the race I find
myself struggling to hang on in the fierce wind... getting gapped by
a few meters, then 10 meters, then 20....but I'm not alone....Steve
N., Robin, there to help and two other racers.....pack just in front
of us....Fred looks back and gives a hand motion to us to get on his
wheel....we try, keep trying, but can't seem to bridge....we work
together, take turns pulling....pack gets closer, then further, then
closer....this hurts! WE can catch!...please! Maybe...just push a
little harder....why do those guys in front of us look smaller
now?!.....

I put my head down and grit my teeth...I'll take a long pull and see
if we can get up to the remaining group....OK....I'm cooked, need
somebody to pull now, I look back....nobody....did I take a wrong
turn?....No, I'm on course, but now alone (except for a third pillar
guy that is more cooked than me).....readying myself emotionally and physically for the toughest TT I have ever done...

Finish the last part of that lap on my own...man, this is not what I
had planned....I can see the main group in front of me, but they are
escaping me....the wind is too brutal...I will not catch. A little
spiritual moment wishing the DBC guys in the main pack strength and
intestinal fortitude....go get em boys! Win one for the gipper!

The final lap comes....FINALLY.....I thought it would never
come....just me...powering up that little kicker of a hill to the
finish point with one lap to go....they even ring the bell for
me....nice to hear, but I'm a hurtin! Power over the hill and down
the backside....get to the right hand turn and think to
myself....hmmmm....left turn and I am DONE and can motor my way back to the start and have a beer....WAIT A MINUTE!...I didn't drive two hours down here to quit!!! And FRED would kick my butt if I didn't go the whole way....OK....I dig deep.....time to bear down and TT the final lap on my own! So I did for the remaining lap...the final few K's....rough road, cold strong wind, big rain drops starting to fall....I must admit, I started to curse the road, the rain, the weather, this sport....I was ALL ALONE, so nobody could hear me....so I was not shy about using the most ugly language I could muster...(I will not repeat it here)....1K to go sign appears....I dig deep and
start to increase my cadence and pace....right turn to the finish, the moto ref zooms past me with horn blazing....'move right' he motions! I look back....here comes Steggall and Company sprinting to the finish!!!! I pass the finish line with them....except 5 min back....they were the B group, I was in the A group......

What a workout! Probably the best I have had since my last Tue/Thurs race ride in September....a good early season wake up call.....

After I finish and come to a stop, I meet up with the DBC Masters
guys collected at the side of the road....elated to hear that our
guys have done so well....wanted to celebrate, but all I could do was
let my head fall onto my bars and collapse. I can say that I take
modest pride in knowing that I didn't give up, and I finished that
race!

Speaking of which, in this Snelling road race, we have had our
winners, podium placers, and top 10'ers...and we have also had our
finishers! Everybody who finished this race deserves a big hug! (Me
being 'hugger boy' and all :-0)....It was a real tough one. One
notable...back at the start line, Robin and I noticed that Kevin
Wright had cruised into the parking lot on his bike....did he finish,
did he quit? Well, you better believe he FINISHED this RACE!!!!
After getting dropped on the first lap, Kevin had the fortitude to
keep going for the remainder of the race (4 laps; 50 + miles)
essentially on his own! Now that is winning in my book!!!!! Good
show KEVIN!!! Now that is how to HTFU!

Looking forward to Merco next week....perhaps with a little bit
different strategy....can you say 'sittin in'? :-}

jas