Karl Wurzbach, Wente RR 35 + 4

Happy that I was able to sleep in but still could not sleep past 7am........need to get to bed earlier. Knew it was gonna be fairly warm today - low to mid 80's so I hydrated well for several days. Race started at 1155am and as I'm registering I see Stegall and we are talking about neutral water support when an official tells us there will be no neutral water support. ARGGGHHHHHHH!!!! Most of us ended up carrying 3 bottles for the ride. We had good numbers as there were I think about 8 of us Lee, Loren, Fred, Derek, John S., Stan, myself and a few more I can't recall right now. 15 mile loop with a couple of decent climbs per loop.

Seemed like the whole pack of 100 was together after the first loop and the 2nd loop dropped the pack to about 50-60. As we start the 3rd loop I pull my last bottle of liquid from my jersey pocket and drop it ... Great! ... God bless John S. as he had 1 1/2 bottles left and gave me his full water bottle and I needed all of it. The lead pack hammered the climb and the group split to a lead pack of 10 and several chase packs. I stayed with the lead group suffering considerably but couldn't hang on the 2nd tier of the climb. I was passed by several riders but after working solo for about 3 miles a chase group of 5 riders came by and yelled to grab a wheel and we were flying! A great group effort caught the lead pack about 2-3 miles later. I was fighting off cramps as we caught the lead pack but was able to recoup for the finish.

The lead pack was about 28 riders with 3 flat miles and 1 mile uphill to the finish. John S. and I were next to each other in the top 5 ready to strike when John's chain came off about 1.5 -2 miles from the finish. Not what I wanted to see. The group really ramped up about then and we were moving well just prior to the last right turn with .8 mile to go up a fairly tough hill to the finish. A couple guys jumped quickly and I was thinking "they've got way too much gas left in their tanks!" I tried to hang on as long as I could but was passed by several riders. 18th place. There were 3 or 4 guys within 5-10 yards of me at the finish but I really didn't give a rip whether I passed them or not. I was completely spent. My goal was to be with the pack at the finishing sprint so a good race for me. Ready for some flat crits.