Lee Millon, Bariani, 35+ 4

First off thanks for the incredible support you guys gave me out there today. Even after it became clear that it was not going to be a strong outing for a skinny little guy like me (flailing in the wind), I had the luxury of having solid support. As always the whole crew pitched in. Steve, Robin, Derek, Justin all gunning it right off the bat! John, Fred and Chris all keeping an eye out for me.

Right before the big pinch John rode along side on the county road section and said something about selection being made and how we gotta hustle towards the front. I was sitting pretty in the draft of opposing teams so I watched John motor up the right side thinking that I would soon follow. Sure enough the guys in front of me start to get shelled one by one on that power hill before the corner. John foresaw this and saved himself the enormous effort to bridge these gaps over and over like I was having to do. Pretty soon the selection was indeed made. Chris, Fred and I watched the select few roll away.

Now we have a new job -- control what's left of the pack. We had strong confidence that John would hold his own in the front group. At one point I started to get into a comfortable rhythm and started to work with the chasing group -- duh! A quick and "gentle" reminder from Fred snapped me out of it and we again proceeded to sit on the chasers. One of the stronger chasers turned to the rest of us and started to yell in frustration "DO YOU GUYS WANT TO CATCH BACK ON OR NOT!" We all gave him a neutral look. He shrugged and proceeded to singlehandedly pull the pack hard! This dude was beyond redline and he was motivated. Some spectators yelled 90 seconds! As we pedaled past and chaser guy kept motoring. This guy pulled hard for almost an entire lap by himself! The motoref was at the base of the KOM watching us and yelled "2 minutes". Chaser dude then turned around and, with a smile, said "well, I think we're not gonna catch on..." He asked if we had any riders in the front group but I think he already knew the answer.

Awesome to see first hand all the racing nuances come to life in front of me! On the last lap Fred and Chris took turns babysitting my skinny a$$ so I can play with my intent to stay rested and pour on the gas. It was safe enough because at that point there was no way I was going to get close enough to jeopardize John's break. Fred and Chris faithfully towed me to the power hill before the dirty corner where I took off. Whoosh, down the hill, screeching through the corner. After being towed for most of the race it was finally starting to feel like work -- my own work! Then something curious happened. As my eyeballs started to strain and SSE start to flow I see the credits roll by and I hear goofy Don Meredith singing -- "Turn off the lights, the party's over..."

Chris catches me and encourages me to keep going "C'MON LEE WE'RE ALMOST THERE!
Fred catches me and offer similar encouragements.
Justin catches me and ... you get the picture.

These are the guys who've been towing me around all day! They've been doing all the work. I'm supposed to be fresh compared to these guys! Man, I'm weak...

After the race I had a nice chat with John while he collected his prizes. He explained precisely what "selection being made" meant. It dawned on me that I had seen that movie before. I guess I better turn on the English subtitles next time...

AWESOME DAY FELLAS! I love epics. I loved Snelling, it was my favorite race of 08 until today.

I'd like to be able to say that I'll repay you guys sometime but that would mean I would have to gain about 50 lbs to give you any significant draft. How about I just clean your bikes or better yet next time we toss a few, I'm buying!

Lee

PS: A TT helmet even the pseudo one I wore gets damn hot!