Mayor's Cup 2016

[Jacob]

Cat 2/3 with PJ and Winslow. My goal was to upgrade from back-pack fodder (last year's result) to mid-pack fodder. Everything was going pretty well for a while -- I was even harboring hopes of getting to be front-pack fodder, but I got taken out in a crash on the downhill side. My bike was totaled so I ran down around the corner to the pit. They set me up with a new bike. They were pretty quick about it, but not quite quick enough. By the time I was ready, my second free lap was already past and I was off the back right off the bat. Tried to catch for two laps, but that was hopeless. Season done!

Lessons learned:
1) Run faster
2) Play dumb and take 3 free laps. In hindsight it's likely that they wouldn't have noticed anyway.

https://youtu.be/UZcPqXs6ruw

[oscarp]

Stinks about the crash! Good that you are ok! What camera do you have, looks pretty compact?

[Jacob]

I have a Replay XD Prime X. I like it.

[pace21]

I think option would have worked Jacob. Depends on the pit official I guess, but it seems the 2 free laps rule could have been applied after you actually arrived in the pit. You were running to the pit after all, it's not like you were taking a break and sipping an iced tea on the sidelines. It probably also matters if it was early vs late in the race as to what the official would let go.

[Mkidd3]

it's not like you were taking a break and sipping an iced tea

Nope, lemonade

[pace21]

I find most commercials during football games to be unbearable but that one made me laugh out loud. To myself.

[ssarah]

Women's 3/4 Race: Pretty slow for such a fast course, seems like people were burnt-out or already in cyclocross mode. Nothing doing for most of the race; a few mediocre attacks went off, including one of my own, but nothing stuck. I was nursing a sore hamstring, so I made sure not to put any big efforts in. I wanted to hold on to everything until the end to try to make the podium, so I didn't even go for any of the primes (although in hindsight, there was some easy money to be won there).

I got the sage advice from the guys to be 3rd wheel going into the final corner, so with 3 laps to go, I started to move up. However, the pace unexpectedly stayed flat even at this point in the race, and I accidentally found myself on the front of the pack with 2 to go. I made sure to give a solid push to get my heart rate going but not burn any matches at the same time. Not sure if my move was mistaken as an attack, but when I tried to pull off no one would come around and the pace slowed appreciably. Finally, someone took the initiative and pushed the pace back up, and I managed to hang onto the front for the remainder of the lap.

Going into the last lap, the pace increased. Going around the first corner and up the hill, the back of the pack surged to the front, and at that moment one rider attacked off the front. I was in the unfortunate position of being boxed in squarely in the middle of the pack and was not able to jump on the move. I managed to weave my way through the fodder and caught the wheel of a strong sprinter for the 3rd and 4th corners. I followed her for the first 100 m of the sprint as we passed by several riders, and then jumped out and managed to pass her and another rider to take 5th overall. Not too bad considering my questionable hamstring, but I will definitely be looking to make podium next year.

Thanks to everyone who was cheering for me! Congrats to the masters men for taking the podium spot, and sorry to hear about the 2/3's misfortunes I was wondering what happened to you guys...