BB3 - 40+ 4/5

Well, it almost went as planned….  We had a very surgey (is that a word..?) race. The Pacific Power guys had assigned a couple riders to mark the Sunset Cycles rider who was in first place in the series. Every time he would attack, at least one PP guy was on his wheel and then the whole pack would accelerate too. Then we would slow down after the break stopped trying to get away. I lost count how many times this happened. Between my cold and the constant surges I was starting to wear down on the last lap. Everything felt good except my legs. They had started to cramp a bit on the back side and I’d already finished a bottle of water and a bottle of Cytomax along with half a Clif bar. That should have been enough…  On the last time up the big hill I didn’t feel too bad so I figured I’d try the plan I had been thinking about. About 3/4 of the way up the next hill, I attacked. I didn’t get away, but I had everyone lined out along the flat spot before the long downhill going into the little finish stretch. A guy pulled ahead of me going down the hill so I at least got a little recovery. I pulled back up front as we made the right hander over the bridge and as soon as we hit the rise going toward the 200 meter mark I drilled it again. About half way up that hill my legs had had enough and both of my thighs just cramped up. It was like I threw a parachute out the back and 9 guys came flying past me. I managed to limp across the line in 10th. I’ve cramped in my last 2 races and I’m not sure if it’s due to my cold or losing 6 pounds in 2 weeks. I’m guessing it’s a combo. As it turns out, I managed to finish 5th in the series  4 points out of 3rd.

I also found out that I do not have enough points for an upgrade, so my next race will be King’s Valley as a 4. At least I have 3 weeks to get healthy and get more training in my legs.