DWC Club Champs - RR

I had three goals for the road race:
(1) - Win it;
(2) - Prevent Steve D. from getting the bonus sprint points;
(3) - Get the sprint points myself if I can.

Well, two out of three ain't bad...

It was a gorgeous if chilly morning as we started at Trimble Lane on 550, headed to the summit of Coal Bank. At mile 4.5, (on the rollers right before the hot spring) there was a sprint for bonus points. We all knew we had to wear down Steve or else he would just increase his lead with more points, so there were lots of attacks after the train tracks. He covered them all and in the process wore himself down. As we approached the line, I stuck right on his wheel to cover any move he might make. Jim came flying by on the left, and there wasn't anything Steve could do. As much as I wanted to try to go for the points, I knew that if I went, I would just drag Steve to the line. So Jim got the points, and Steve did not - a good start.

Then we all soft pedaled trying to recover before the climbs. I pulled away slowly on the lower slopes of Shalona, and nobody followed. Just before going over the tracks, Brandon jumped across, and the two of us worked to increase the lead. We had a few hundred yards at the top of Shalona. By Haviland Lake, there was no sign of anyone behind. We worked really well together on the rollers to the base of Coal Bank, catching some stragglers from the groups who started earlier. Then we dug in for the last 6 miles.

We each pulled for about 2 miles. As we neared the top, Brandon was in front, and I was feeling OK but not great. I pulled alongside, and we discussed our options. We thought about finishing together and splitting the points; if either one of us won outright, we would take the lead in the omnium, but if we shared the points, Steve would still be in the lead. So we decided to go for the win, and with that, Brandon accelerated. I put in a dig and got back on his wheel. I decided to stay right there, and try my sprint at 100m. Brandon would accelerate and slow, accelerate and slow, trying to drop me. As we neared 100m, he accelerated again, and I knew I would have to go for it. I took a few meters to get back on his wheel, and then stomped it. I got by him almost immediately, and then just hung on for dear life for the last 50. Whew! I am really thankful for all those hill sprints we've been doing on the club rides, without those, I wouldn't have known I could do it.

So Steve and I are tied at 53 points apiece, with Brandon in 3rd with 52. The fourth and final race is a MTB TT in Horse Gulch tomorrow. Best 3 of the 4 results count for the final omnium. Steve has the advantage, as this will be his third race and all his points count (he dropped out of the RR once he missed the sprint points). Brandon and I are each racing for incremental points, trying to do better than our lowest placings (5th for me in the crit, 5th for him in the TT). I think we're racing for 2nd, but anything can happen, I suppose.