Another one in the books.

My plan to go after the prime on the first lap fell through when it was clear at the start that some faster guys had that in mind too. I didn’t even bother as we hit the ramp up to the line.

The race went very similarly to the last one as this is really more of a time trial than a tactical road race (it’s all about individual fitness as long as you’re not a moron and miss the start or take on more wind than you should). I started seeing a gap open between me and what was left of the field after about four climbs, pulled it back on the downhill once, and then the next time through could not and was on my own.

Same exact placing as last week except there may be an update or a couple since there’s one glaring error I know of (my friend, Dolan, finished in the top 5, but they have him down as last place – I’m assuming they thought he was getting lapped… Ouch. Dolan, look faster ;)). Again, two people off the pack. I’ll get there someday. Maybe. Bonus this time around is that the Women’s 1/2/3 race caught me on the last lap. They’re pretty quick. I took the lap easy/let them around and dragged a few gapped riders down the hill. If there’s on thing I’m good at, it is going down hills. I suppose that’s not really a bonus 😕

 I’d been noticing some funny noises from my rear wheel and also a slight wobble. Sure enough, popped a spoke in the middle of the race. Didn’t affect anything, but descending and cornering at 35mph may have been a little more loose than usual. Didn’t stop me from putting in a PR on the downhill. Replaced the spoke myself and took the bare wheel into the shop today (I don’t work on wheel innards), they pulled it apart, bearings were fine, but the axle was a bit loose. They fixed that and showed me how I can do it myself in a matter of 30 seconds next time it occurs. He cleaned up the insides and trued the wheel slightly for $10. I slipped him a $20 because karma/beer. They said that typically after three popped spokes they recommend a wheel rebuild. I’m at two so I’ll probably just get that done over the winter whether or not I lose another.

I went up the climb section four seconds faster than last week and twenty seconds faster than the week before so the improvement is measurable and good. I’m pleased.

I’m unfortunately missing the next two races, which leaves only the season finale. With a total of zero series points, I’m nowhere close to being in the running for anything, but a bit bummed I’m missing them anyway. Following that, I get into running a dozen or so trail races in a row on Wednesday nights. I’m definitely going to have to get into the Monday night road races and maybe look into some Saturday races too because I’ve got the racing bug again and it must get itched.

GPS.