So this weekend saw another race in the searing mid summer. To make things worse the start was 13H30!! That got me a bit worried after last weeks heat wave that took its toll on me with cramps being the eventual result. I woke up yesterday morning to a wonderful sight though, clouds. At this time of the year its almost unheard of and there is never rain this early so you could call it a sort of miracle. No rain fell but the cloud cover made this a whole lot more comfortable than my previous mid-summer baking contest.
Onto the race. It was great to get out there and the pressure of my first race at the new level was off the shoulders. I knew who the main competitors were, this week amounting to a grand total of four. I just concentrated on keeping up with the guy that beat me last week, did some pre-race chatting and found out he has dominated the expert level the entire season. That gave me a bit more of a boost as he apparently was pretty much doing the same thing last year. this being my first year racing makes finishing second behind him quite encouraging.
Some how my start I go stuck behind all the clumsy riders. Keeping Matan within my sights I set off trying to not push too hard but keeping contact as last week I over did the first lap and that was the race over basically. Like I said though the clumsy riders seemed to sneak in front of me at every corner just as I was making up ground and then go down in the turn. Hobbling around the donwed rider having lost all my momentum saw me loose about a minute in the first lap. I eventually saw him again on one of the switchback climbs but he must have noticed me coming and put donw the gas. That was the last I saw of him as I spent the rest of the race just riding at a competitve pace not loosing any places.
In the end I managed a second for the second week in a row. Not a bad start to my new level of competition but there will need to be a bit more work in the begining of the race to keep up with the faster guys.
Onto the race. It was great to get out there and the pressure of my first race at the new level was off the shoulders. I knew who the main competitors were, this week amounting to a grand total of four. I just concentrated on keeping up with the guy that beat me last week, did some pre-race chatting and found out he has dominated the expert level the entire season. That gave me a bit more of a boost as he apparently was pretty much doing the same thing last year. this being my first year racing makes finishing second behind him quite encouraging.
Some how my start I go stuck behind all the clumsy riders. Keeping Matan within my sights I set off trying to not push too hard but keeping contact as last week I over did the first lap and that was the race over basically. Like I said though the clumsy riders seemed to sneak in front of me at every corner just as I was making up ground and then go down in the turn. Hobbling around the donwed rider having lost all my momentum saw me loose about a minute in the first lap. I eventually saw him again on one of the switchback climbs but he must have noticed me coming and put donw the gas. That was the last I saw of him as I spent the rest of the race just riding at a competitve pace not loosing any places.
In the end I managed a second for the second week in a row. Not a bad start to my new level of competition but there will need to be a bit more work in the begining of the race to keep up with the faster guys.
