Lake Auburn Masters 55+ slogfest

[ahamilton]

It was not a great day for racing (low 50s and raining), but 55+ fields are few and far betwewn, so I made the drive. Only 14 pre-regged, and payout was 6 deep, so I figured I had a good chance of being in the money. Here's the synopsys:

- 10 starters (promoter could have cancelled, but opted to let us ride)
- 3 x 11.something mile loop (35 miles total) with a nasty wall and several short kickers before the not-too-steep 1.5 mile uphill finish
- Had real trouble on the wall the first time, but stayed in the middle of the group
- Field (ha!) split about 8-9 miles into the first lap, with 4 of us getting away
- The remaining two-plus laps were done break-away style, so the fact that we had such a small field didn't make it an easy race
- One of the guys was freakishly strong for an old man (I looked him up - he's done a ton of P/1/2/3 races with results as good a 7th place) and looked only about 40 years old
- Strong man and another dropped two of us on the second assault of the wall
- We weaklings shared the duty of chasing for about 4 miles and finally got back on with a small assist from the fact that we had to pass the remnants of the Men 5 and Women 4 fields, which caused a race vehicle congestion point resulting in them having to slow down to stay behind the lead vehicle. (When we did get back on we had to hold the slower pace for another mile, which gave us a well-needed rest.)
- Third and final time up the wall, freakishly strong grandpa drops the 3 of us
- We all knew (without saying a word to each other) that he had 1st all wrapped up, so we continued in break-away mode until the final hill
- We all got up the last little kicker before the 1.5 mile gentle uphill finish (with the final 200 meters being pretty much flat)
- As most of you know, I am not a sprinter, so I had scoped out a sign about 600 meters from the finish (on the steepest part of the hill) as my launch point, pretty sure that I could drop at least one of the guys and finally get a podium
- When I went one of the guys couldn't get on, but the other was able to stay about 3 bike lengths back and I was pretty sure I was going to fade a bit (I had been fighting cramps in several muscles for about 5 miles and was feeling them try to kick in), so I eased off hoping he would come around me with about 250 meters left, which he obligingly did
- Sat on his wheel and recovered until about 50 meters, then came around for the victory! - I mean second place finish

[rusto]

Fantastic result, Alan, KUDOS!

[carlshimer]

Alan: great result, tactics, and race hacking. Kudos as well!

[pace21]

I knew it! I didn't want to jinx you but you've been riding super strong. Congrats!

[Gumbo]

Great job Alan! Very impressive work.

[Smudger]

As predicted. Great result.

[jraguin]

Fantastic Alan! I knew when you were right on me going up Bare Hill the other day that you are stronger than you let on. Great job!!

[michaelcole]

Reading that gave me a huge smile.
Nice job.

[argus]

Congratulations! And looking forward to hearing more "top finish" race reports.

[JeremyC]

Awesome, you earned it! Several of us bailed on the race, we should be ashamed and I bow to your superiority...

[BTurner]

Alan, way to tough it out. Great job.

[ahamilton]

Even though you guys didn't race with me, I owe you big time for all the hard training rides. Without the incentive of trying to keep up with you "kids," I would not have had the legs to finish as well as I did. Thanks for waiting at the tops of all those hills!

[Cort Cramer]

Congrats Alan!

[Len_E]

Brilliant race and result, Alan. Nice work. Do something unusual with the payout - beer comes to mind.

[PJ McQuade]

Alan, awesome! Manned up against the weather and got rewarded.

[taudep]

Congrats Alan. You're road to a comeback is a total success!

[Bruce]

Hey Alan,

Really happy for you...and a bit envious too. That's just fantastic. Congrats!