Argh! I'm was so mad at my performance yesterday. I could have won my second race. I took Tim's advice about moving up through gaps within the pack and not on the side. It totally works and it makes moving up so much easier. I was among the front dozen or so most of the time and enjoying the draft. Whenever I fell behind, I would look for a gap, grow some balls, yell "COMING UP!" and go into that narrow space hoping not to crash or hit anybody. The race was REALLY sketchy. Much more sketchier than the last and there wasn't even dots! People wiggling in the middle of their turns and moving side to side on straight aways. I think it was the first time I ever yelled at somebody in a race lol.
Anyway when I heard the bell for the last lap, I got into position and moved closer to the front catching drafts as the pace picked up. I knew from the last race that winning was all about positioning. After the 3rd turn I was like the 4th or 6th rider in the front and I felt the pace was way too slow for me. I had plenty of juice in my legs and I decided to attack so I would be first into the final sprint. I believe I gapped the field quite a bit and thought I could hold them off. After a while I was like crap, this stretch is fricking long as hell! I got tired and 12 other people passed me at the finish line out of ~40-50 riders =(
If only I waited 30 more seconds or so, I could've won a T-shirt! Ehh, I'll learn to race another day.
edit: Hey it wasn't a total loss...check out part of my teammate's race report:
"After I get through getting reg'd for that spot, it's late, so I rushed to my truck to finish getting ready. I hear them calling E5's to the line, but there's no way I'll make it through the race without peeing first, so my total warm up is to ride past everyone lining up, hit the portapotties and race back to the line. I planned to take it as easy as possible on the first laps to actually get warmed up and it worked. I just stayed tucked in, but not to far back in the pack. As has been the pattern in the 5's, we just made laps in a bunch. The bunch thinned a bit and I kept looking for someone holding up lap cards and didn't see the counter showing 3..2..1. Then, I heard the bell ring and was mired mid-pack (shit!). I urgently needed to move up, but it wouldn't be easy as the pace accelerated. Fortunately, coming up the back straight,Gary attacked on inside and things finally opened up on the outside for me to move up. I rolled around a bunch of riders and hauled wide into the last turn to maintain speed. I passed a bunch of people in the sprint, but started too far back to get a good place. Like Gary, I was disappointed that I didn't finish higher, especially considering how I felt. I definitely had some left in the tank when I crossed the finish. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.another lesson learned about positioning and paying attention."
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