Cat 5 35+ had me, Jeremy, John and 47 other guys. First lap was quite tame, but shed about 15-20 riders. I felt good on the Lackey climb so I tested my legs and found myself with a gap over the top. Sat up and waited for the group. Second lap, neutralized due to a crash in the women's race. Ten minutes or so of standing around, and just before Lackey hill. Rolling, and still feeling good, so I tested my legs and found myself with a gap again over the top, this time a bit bigger. I'm just kinda cruising and someone bridged up, so I asked if he wanted to make a go of it. He said yes, but on the Mendon climb, it was obvious he didn't have it. By then the group of 25 or so was chasing hard and closing, so I sat up and waited. Final lap, John took a really good, hard pull by the lake heading toward Lackey and winnowed the field down to about 15. I'm not sure why he decided to drill it there, but it ultimately hurt his finish and definitely helped me by making the race harder before the final climb. He put Jeremy into a bit of difficulty, but he was on the tail-end of the leaders at the turn up Lackey. Obviously, I'm feeling good, so my plan is to get a gap up the hill and not leave it to a sprint. Right turn onto Lackey, I'm at the front, out of the saddle and going pretty hard, but not red-lined. Built a gap of 15-20 meters, so on the second steep pitch I went even harder. Hit 196 on my HRM, which isn't quite pegged for me but darn close. Now I've got a larger gap, and John tells me afterwards that the other guys started looking at each other...basically conceding that they weren't going to bring me back and now thinking about 2nd place. The "666' feet of elevation" sign tricked me a bit, but the 500m sign wasn't too much farther. Click, click, big ring, drilling it and Moto-official-gal is right next to me. I can hear her say "Cat 5 leader is at 200 meters". I'm not leaving it to chance, though, so I'm still drilling it until about 50m to go. I won with a sizable gap, probably 100-150m. Moto-official-gal is still right next to me at the line and says "Nice job". The only thing that would have been cooler is if Graham Watson was hanging off the back of it clicking away with his camera....and if there were podium girls...and cash. Instead I got some guy named Kyle and a $75 gift card to Landry's. C'est la vie.
John finished 7th and Jeremy in 14th. I think John could have saved a few places had he not taken the big pull before the hill, but it definitely helped me, so "props" to him. Good showing for the club. We had a plan and worked it during the race. It wasn't perfect, but the result was. Thanks guys!
