When I got to Warda Saturday morning I was feeling pretty good. We parked next to John Madden and he and I were talking and hanging out at the cars. Wally Groda rides by and is parked in the next row behind us. John takes note and mentions that instead of racing for 2nd (Will Black was in the 40 class) that they were now racing for 3rd. I laugh and walk over to talk with Wally. My laughs are short lived when Wally informs me he's racing the 30 class so he can get an extra lap... I put my mind in check because it started to go south on me again. First Robert Baird, then Joch Da-bla-bla, Dale, and now Wally... I tell myself I'm just going to ride smart and stay with them, I'm fast enough to go toe-to-toe with any of these guys, the funny thing is, this time I believe what I'm telling myself.
There's a little discussion in the front during the top10 call-up at the start. Some of the guys moved up so everyone else in the top10 does too including Robert B who is NOT in the top10 (only because he's only raced one race.) Ultimately things work themselves out and Robert stays at the front. Wally looks over at me from our 2nd row positions with a snicker. Top10 wise I was 11th going in to this race so I stayed back but I wasn't worried as it's a LONG start here at Warda! Gun goes off and we're on our way.
I'm not liking where I end up in the pack once we settle in after the initial little climb. I'm midpack if that, likely back half. I notice I'm behind Jessica R. and I'm not liking the lack of draft I'm getting off of her. At the same time I see Wally, Zack, and Robert up ahead of me and I feel compelled to go up and get next to them. I tell myself "be patient, it's a long way to the cattle guard." As we round the 1st and 2nd corner and start heading back toward the front I move up a spot or two. Midway through the field the pace isn't too high but it just felt like things would explode at any moment. I know something's got to happen soon so I make another move to go up the left side to the front. There's approx 5 people between me and the front and we're rolling in two pace lines.
Time to make a move and get a little closer to the front, I hit the gas and as I pass the 3rd person, still nobody has gone yet. The cattle guard is a couple hundred yards and closing quickly. As I come up on the front riders I see some movement on the other side and I figure others are now going too so I put down a little more power to get on to the surge that seems to be happening on the other side.
I slam the pedals and surge out in front of the group. I put my head down and just drive in to the pedals. As I cross the cattle guard there's nobody in front of me and nobody in my slip stream. I hit the funnel and I'm now moving through the dirt around the lake. My goal was to be in the front 3 going in to the woods. The attack I put down was just to make sure I was out front with the big motors. Not only am I'm out front, I've got a huge gap and I'm all by myself. KIA and Noob are yelling at me from a shade tree as I shoot up the false flat into the single track. I back it down a little once I make the woods because I need to recover.
This was pretty much the race. I knew at the time the attack would go really good or really bad. Either way I was not going to go in to the single track midpack without a fight. It paid off and the gap widened as the race went on. I finished the race about 50sec ahead of 2nd.
Throughout the race the guys would close me in to about 15-20 seconds and then sometimes I'd get the gap back to 30-40 seconds. It was really fun to be out there solo but at the same time it was very unnerving knowing that they were likely going to come flying up on me at any second. Ultimately nobody every closed me down and I seemed to open the gap a lot through the last lap.
Lap3 I almost went off the side of Gas Pass after the switchback. The only thing that saved me was that I kept looking ahead to where I wanted to go and not where the bike was headed. Literally I was on the front tire (back tire off the ground) at over 12mph on the edge. How I didn't go over the bars, let alone the edge, is beyond me. All I did was just keep looking ahead up the trail and tried to let the bike keep itself upright. Unbelievable when I think about it but I'm incredibly grateful I was able to ride that mishap out.
This was by far one of the best races I've ever had. The field had some seriously strong and talented riders and the course required a good mix of skills. Getting away early and staying out front was a challenge. In the end I got the win.
3 Podiums (two wins and a 3rd) in 4 races (1 DNF), 15th at the Rattler, not a bad Spring race season! Now it's time to focus on Leadville.
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