That is a little bit better.
I told Sacha I had to improve on yesterdays race.
So I did.
7th place, with a sprint to take it!
I felt a little better in the beginning of the race but still ended up yo-yoing off the back of the 10 person lead group. I eased off a little bit and started riding my own pace about halfway through. I was way out of the UCI points at that point.
I caught a rider and then realised I was trucking along pretty well. I worked my way back up through a few riders and ended up catching Nathan Chown with 1 to go.
It was classic. I passed him and just stopped pedaling. There was no way we were going to catch anyone and no one was going to catch up to us at this point so we were playing tactics. I figured I was feeling better (since I did catch up to him) and sat on the front forcing him to attack me first.
He did and I countered him on this steep turn I knew I was riding better and gassed it. It was a long, long haul to the finish but, I knew if I hit the pavement straight first, there was no way he would get around. I thought for a sec I may have been giving him the sweetest lead out of all time but, I took it.
It is the small victories right?
I felt much better today, at least I made my race instead of sucking so bad for the last half hour.
I heard Tonkin won the Hood River CX with my Veloshop team rider Markwelder finishing 2nd!
Holy crap!
Check it out, I’ve added some photos of the Michigan weekend to flickr.
September 25th, 2006 at 8:13 am
Yeah, your teammate is pretty strong for sure. Good job. He profited big time from Mahoney taking out everyone with a crash in the first tight turn, 20 seconds in. Instant 100 meter gap while everyone tried to restart in their biggest gear. Zach Winter did a nice “jump the gun” move to start things off. Good stuff. Nice to see some new faces in the mix, I must say. It’s gonna be tough this year. The youngsters keep getting stronger and the fields are getting more and more saturated w/ talent. When Tonkin rolled through lap four, I hopped on and that is when the “real hurtin” began.
Good job out in the midwest. Keep it up.
CDB
September 25th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Chris! I had you picked for the win too!! No joke, I guessed Steven Hunter, Cary Miller and you on the podium. I lost money on the bet too. You are off the team!
September 25th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
Paolo!!!!!
September 25th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
diggin’ the banner.
Great to hear a success post! Keep at it.
And thanks to CDB for the Hood race report. Sounds like there was a good turnout there. Congrats to Mark for the strong showing. Can’t wait to join the fun this Sunday.
Joel
September 29th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
What. The. Fuck.
I hope I make you wrong again soon, jerky.
September 29th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
Sorry Mark, I hate your Salsa.
Did I mention the Lapierre cx frames are going to be in stock next week!
September 30th, 2006 at 10:55 am
Taiwan represent! No, really, I’m Lapierre-smitten. I held one in my hands on Thursday… Gimmegimmegimme. And, I told you in person, but here it is publicly: sweet, sweet UCI points. Keep flying all over, repping NW and kicking ass. Oh, and win StarX’d tonight, too.