RRCX 2019
Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:50 pm
I'm not proud, but it turned out to be a pretty fun race today trying to hold of the Little Rhino.
Signed up for the 2-3-4 so I wouldn't have to get up at 5AM to make the 8:30 40+ race. During my pre-ride I saw Nathaniel the little kid (13 yo Racing Age) on Rhino Bike Works who's been destroying the 4/5 races this year. 'I wonder what poor 4/5's day he's going to ruin' I thought. Hmm, he's number 238, wait a minute, I'm 237! Crap he's in my race! If this goes wrong I'm going to hear it from all the people I've been making fun of for getting smoked by him this season. Cactus, for one, will not let me hear the end of it.
I got an ok start, Nathaniel got squeezed a bit on the first turn so he was behind me, but then when we hit the 180 by "Burgle's Hole" everyone was jammed up and I see little Nathaniel, off the bike, running up the left and squeezing between a rider and the inside tree, moving up like 15 spots. I was picking off riders on the straights and eventually got him back in sight. Then some riders tangled, and he got hung up behind them while I slipped through on the left. I drilled it on the straight, trying to open up a gap. But when we got to the ridable run up at the back of the course I could hear people cheering for him. I looked back and there he was. The next straight I took off and put some college kids between me and him, but they worked together to close down the gap to me.
There's no recovery on this course. Normally I would try to tuck in behind someone on one of the many long power sections, but I was convinced that was the only place I could open a gap. Problem was, I wasn't opening a gap. The kid was just getting a free ride in my enormous draft.
This year, it was barriers, then a 180, quick up/down chicane with a nasty 180 with a little drop to the left before a 90 degree left into the sand pid. I was second in a line of 6 when the lead guy went wide on the 180 into the little drop and went over the bars on the little drop. HIs rear wheel wound up smacking me on the hand, but I powered through and hit the sandpit full gas hoping he'd hold up the others behind me, but I got stuck in behind some traffic (Chandler) and 1/4 lap later I had a line of people back in my draft, including Little Rhino.
I kept throwing everything I had left at the group behind me, finally distancing them before pit 2. At least I thought so. I'd dropped everyone but Little Rhino, who sat in my draft on the long drag by the start finish and then passed me at the barriers for 2 laps to go. How can someone that small even run over those full height barriers? I admit it, at this point I was broken. Maybe I should just recover and try and get him in the sprint? Then as we go into the sandpit he bobbles, reaches for the fence, misses at first and then frantically grabbed for the rail. BOOM! I was off. Rode the run up clean, but someone was behind me. I tried to get away but it was Chandler coming back and he got around me. Fortunately he was alone. So, I had a little gap to the kid. But how would I keep this gap for another lap? I had been going flat out for nearly 40 minutes at this point. Woosh, a white jersey went by me like I was standing still and chopped Chandler going into the corner by the Gazebo before the stairs. Chandler yelled for him to go and I realized it was Magnus, messing with Chandler, and leading the JR UCI field lapping us.
It's been a while since I was lapped in a race, but this time it made me so happy. I cranked up the pace again, going by Chandler and through the mudhole onto the finishing straight and sprinting, seeing '0' on the lapcard and my race is over. I sat up, Chandler pulled up and said "so happy that's over" then Nathaniel caught up to us "What!?!?! We're done?" (he sounded so disappointed)
"Yep, we got lapped"
Signed up for the 2-3-4 so I wouldn't have to get up at 5AM to make the 8:30 40+ race. During my pre-ride I saw Nathaniel the little kid (13 yo Racing Age) on Rhino Bike Works who's been destroying the 4/5 races this year. 'I wonder what poor 4/5's day he's going to ruin' I thought. Hmm, he's number 238, wait a minute, I'm 237! Crap he's in my race! If this goes wrong I'm going to hear it from all the people I've been making fun of for getting smoked by him this season. Cactus, for one, will not let me hear the end of it.
I got an ok start, Nathaniel got squeezed a bit on the first turn so he was behind me, but then when we hit the 180 by "Burgle's Hole" everyone was jammed up and I see little Nathaniel, off the bike, running up the left and squeezing between a rider and the inside tree, moving up like 15 spots. I was picking off riders on the straights and eventually got him back in sight. Then some riders tangled, and he got hung up behind them while I slipped through on the left. I drilled it on the straight, trying to open up a gap. But when we got to the ridable run up at the back of the course I could hear people cheering for him. I looked back and there he was. The next straight I took off and put some college kids between me and him, but they worked together to close down the gap to me.
There's no recovery on this course. Normally I would try to tuck in behind someone on one of the many long power sections, but I was convinced that was the only place I could open a gap. Problem was, I wasn't opening a gap. The kid was just getting a free ride in my enormous draft.
This year, it was barriers, then a 180, quick up/down chicane with a nasty 180 with a little drop to the left before a 90 degree left into the sand pid. I was second in a line of 6 when the lead guy went wide on the 180 into the little drop and went over the bars on the little drop. HIs rear wheel wound up smacking me on the hand, but I powered through and hit the sandpit full gas hoping he'd hold up the others behind me, but I got stuck in behind some traffic (Chandler) and 1/4 lap later I had a line of people back in my draft, including Little Rhino.
I kept throwing everything I had left at the group behind me, finally distancing them before pit 2. At least I thought so. I'd dropped everyone but Little Rhino, who sat in my draft on the long drag by the start finish and then passed me at the barriers for 2 laps to go. How can someone that small even run over those full height barriers? I admit it, at this point I was broken. Maybe I should just recover and try and get him in the sprint? Then as we go into the sandpit he bobbles, reaches for the fence, misses at first and then frantically grabbed for the rail. BOOM! I was off. Rode the run up clean, but someone was behind me. I tried to get away but it was Chandler coming back and he got around me. Fortunately he was alone. So, I had a little gap to the kid. But how would I keep this gap for another lap? I had been going flat out for nearly 40 minutes at this point. Woosh, a white jersey went by me like I was standing still and chopped Chandler going into the corner by the Gazebo before the stairs. Chandler yelled for him to go and I realized it was Magnus, messing with Chandler, and leading the JR UCI field lapping us.
It's been a while since I was lapped in a race, but this time it made me so happy. I cranked up the pace again, going by Chandler and through the mudhole onto the finishing straight and sprinting, seeing '0' on the lapcard and my race is over. I sat up, Chandler pulled up and said "so happy that's over" then Nathaniel caught up to us "What!?!?! We're done?" (he sounded so disappointed)
"Yep, we got lapped"