doh

well, it was crazy foggy and rainy for our Natzy road race. i liked it, i must say ... screamin' down 60mph descents with little visibility, wet roads, and freaked out nutters ... i luvs that stuff.

after a burner long 8k climb, we were down to a couple dozen. then, we hit a tricky little park that the time trial course went through. it was full-gas and 4 guys stripped off with all the best horsepower in the race. this was crunch time and i didn't realize it. i gave it all i could to get across the gap and held it at 10 seconds for a couple k as we climbed and rolled through the park ... so close. But, once we exited the park, the four started rotating on a flat section and it was all over. i missed the move. i eventually was caught by a group of about 10, but only a couple of us were interested in riding for the win and chase the four.

The rest were just surviving. ah well.

so then, after some bash and bother on the later climbs, it was down to 4 of us fighting for the last place on the podium. with a few kilometers to go, i rear-flatted and they all gleefully left me for dead.

shyte.

wheel van? i was in no-man's land. the winning break had the first wheel support, the 'pack' a few minutes back had the other. i was screwed.

well, no bloody way i was getting caught. so, i swished and swaddled my way down rainy 40mph descents, eeked through the graveled corners as best i could, and ground that tire into smithereens on the climbs.

8th.

i'm not too disappointed. flat out, i didn't have the horsepower to close the gap to the lead 4. they combined forces and put the hammer down and that was all she wrote. 2 of the guys were sub-44min in the TT on Wednesday so i had little to no chance bridging to them alone once the flats hit. but, i bit it hard and gave all to try. just came up short.

that's the way of the race.

lovely time, now we party. see ya'll soon and best of luck to my Safeway-mates up in Cascade.