One of the best race venues we've had so far. Great day to boot! Roads were rough but relatively clean (like it was recently swept). It was rough from the not so level asphalt patches applied to most of the course. It was so bumpy that at one point I started open mouth humming "AHhhhhhhh" which came out as Ahh-Ahh-Ahh-Ahh-Ahh... at the frequency of 100 APS (Ah per second). Several riders thought it was funny enough to join in and we soon had about 7 people doing the AAaaaaah thing. I wonder if we could have churned butter from our water bottles.
I was all set to work for whoever and wherever. The pack rolled out easy enough but the skinny road made it difficult to move up to the front. Several of us got pinched off the back during the climb but were able to put together a strong chase group with Justin H. barking instructions and encouragement to other teams also willing to chase. We were motoring very well and slowly reeling in the lead group when one of the other guys at the front of our chase group took a wrong turn and we ended up in someone's farm yard! We did not immediately realize this mistake. The only reason we turned around was Fred screaming for us to come back to the main road. We all know Fred as one of those few who can scream without raising his voice but this time we heard him clearly HOLLERING. At first I thought he had a mechanical and was letting us know. I was right behind Pat when he applied his brakes and rammed into him with my left hood. Fortunately neither of us swerved and managed to separate without crashing. Sorry Pat! I turned to look back at the yelling at the same instant you were preparing to turn around. I still had no idea we were off route at that point!
That little mistake pretty took us out of the game. The guy who took the wrong turn felt pretty bad and kept apologizing to the group. Someone later commented that it was an ingenious way to block. :-) . Karl later told us that the front pack pretty much sat up after the climb and was just noodling around with no one taking charge. Ouch...
We -- Justin, Patrick, Fred and I -- pretty much rode out the course and picked off a few dropped riders here and there then photo finished in a wall of DBC Orange.
Hope you all had a great Easter!
Lee
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