After Boss Cross 3 and 4 I had enough points to take the leaders jersey from Richard Hu. That made this weekend of racing a little more interesting to say the least. As it stood, I had a 7 point lead over Richard (2nd) and a 10 point lead over 3rd (Josh Taylor) going into this weekend. With that in mind, at the minimum I had to finish on Richards wheel or ahead of him to maintain possession of the leaders jersey. Oh yeah, and make sure Josh didn't get between us if he raced, which he didn't on Saturday...that made my life a little easier FO SHO!!!! To make things even more interesting, I felt about half crappy when I woke up on Friday...that stayed with me all day and felt about the same on Saturday morning, but there was no way in hell I wasn't gonna line up with the leaders jersey on my back.
On to the race...I managed a 3rd today. Michael Smith took the top step, Richard 2nd and me to round out the podium. At the gun, Richard drilled it from the start, no worries, I hit the pedal and went straight to his wheel. After about 6 turns it was Richard, Mike and myself with a gap and riding away from the field. We get to a long gravel path and with about 100 meters left Mike goes to the front and starts driving. He pulls a small gap of about 20 meters, so I wait a few seconds more and when I hit the grass again I drill it and jump across the gap. This lasted all of about 3 seconds, Richard was there quickly as we were still on the first lap. At that point I decide to ride Mike's wheel for a while and soon realize that this is going to end quickly with a huge explosion...so just about the time we end the first lap I ease up and let him ride away, Richard comes around and takes up the pace making. I wasn't going to work with him initially but thought it would be a good idea to put more time on the field to ensure no one got between us to take points.
For the next 4 laps he and I took turns and put more time on the field with each lap. Going into 2 to go, I'm starting to suffer pretty good. About a 1/4 of the way through that lap I was on the verge of blowing up, so I take a look behind and no one is within a 1/4 mile and Mike has set sail, so I eased up and let Richard go. I didn't want to but I think it was going to happen whether I wanted to or not. So I maintain a good pace and ride the last lap and a half solo to finish in 3rd.
Not a great day, but not a bad one either. As I write this I still feel kinda crappy and run down and wasn't feeling even close to 100% today. Hopefully I will be back to normal tomorrow. I did tell Richard I won't be doing any work on Sunday!! I say that now...I'm sure if I need to, to ensure a solid race, I will. It's his job to take it from me and that's not going to happen!! If an opportunity presents itself to ride away from him I will definitely take it, but as it stands, he's not going anywhere without me.
E
Boss Cross 6
I STOOD ALONE UPON THE TOP STEP...1ST PLACE WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo!!
I was obviously feeling better today and decided to stamp my authority on this race. At the gun I didn't get the best start but managed to slot into 3rd behind Richard and Josh. This didn't set well with me with Josh between Richard and myself so at the first opportunity I go to the front and proceed to drill it. I sat on the front for about a lap and a half, at this point it was just the 3 of us and we were riding away from the rest of the field.
Content with the situation I wave Richard through and take a break. I guess the accelerations Richard and I were making out of the turns finally took their toll on Josh and we rode away from him. Now, I decided it would be a good idea to work together to increase our gap to 3rd, which we did. The next 3 or 4 laps were uneventful.
During my course inspection I decided to ride a ditch that wasn't rideable the day before for various reasons, but going the opposite direction it was. I rode it 4 or 5 times during inspection and had it down. On to the last lap, I was on the front for a bit and thought it was time to "play the game". I wave Richard through and made sure I hit my lines and was on the gas coming out of the turns. With about a 1/3rd of a lap to go we were on a long gravel path, Richard decided to slow and try to allow the 50+ leader with Josh on his wheel to catch us. I realize this, go around and lift the pace. That simply wasn't an option I was willing to entertain. Still on the front, we are headed to the section with the ditch, I decided to put in a good dig coming out of a turn that lead to a short section of gravel path and pulled my foot off the pedal...that didn't work.
Now in the final complex of turns leading to the ditch and I'm still driving. As we approach, Richard rolls past me as I set up to ride the ditch. He dismounts, I ride it, he remounts and leaves the door open on the inside line to the following left, I move left and start to pass, as I draw along side he has missed his pedal and we bump shoulders, this pushed me towards the course post. Having mad ninja skills on a bike, I managed to squeeze by and take the lead. I punch it for all I'm worth to try and get a gap and it was for naught.
The rest of the course after the ditch was a chicane to a 90 degree left, about a 100 meter grass straight to a 90 degree right onto the 150 meter-ish finishing straight which was pavement. As we exited the chicane I drill it so he won't come by. We come flying onto the pavement and I grab a couple of gears and punch it again and held him off for the win.
It was a tactical battle today, it was a blast!! A win to seal up the leaders jersey...what better way to end the series and represent the leaders jersey!!
E
