The Mexican Wombat Quinella

Third-person Synopsis: The crafty Mexican completely misdirected the field to notch up a magnificent win in the Masters 4/5 at PIR. He lead out the Wombat twice to prime victories and when all attention was on the lumbering marsupial, he steamed down the far-left to take the flag. No-one noticed until it was too late. Brilliant.

Long-winded First-person Detail: It was wild night weather-wise. I rode from Raleigh Hills and got caught by a front of water at the Waterfront downtown. It came down in sheets and I was instantly 10 lbs heavier because of the water-drenched gloved, shoes and socks. Not cold, just very wet. The rest of the ride out was an exercise in avoiding flash flooding and unseen potholes. Note that the disused bridge is now closed to bike traffic.

Huddled under the sponsor’s tent were El Luch and the Quiet Achiever – two of the canniest riders on the team. Looked like about 22 riders had signed up but several names had been crossed out, no doubt frightened away by the tropical monsoon conditions. Four words printed on our team jersey sprang to mind.

The pace was high from the start – we averaged of 24.5 mph or so for the race. 13 clockwise laps were to be done with two primes. Have to admit to nervousness about the corners with just slicks on the back and made sure to push back a la ‘doggy-style’ on the sharper turns to increase weight on the rear wheel.

Soon the first prime lap was upon us. I was directly behind El Luch sitting four wheels back. He kept the pace high and I started to click up through the gears in anticipation of the balls out sprint that lay 30 seconds ahead. After the last turn into the straight and underneath the bridge I pulled out into the wind and accelerated past Mr Other rider #1 and Mr Other rider #2. I stayed out of the saddle the entire way to the line and secured the prime. The nearest was half a bike length back. The sprint felt very good - perhaps the three days at the track last week had changed something? A bit more sprint endurance (oxymoron, I know)?. Are we onto something here? Could we possibly do this again?

A few laps later the bell rang for the second prime. I was behind El Luch again but with just one rider ahead of us. He soon pulled off. Cripes !, what are we going to do now? – there is still an entire lap to go. Can El Luch pull me around for a lap?

HELL YES.

El Luch is a strong rider – he pulled the group for ages on the 'Reach The Beach' century ride Saturday on the long windy stretch before Amity. So he pulled me around the track for 2 miles and I again sprinted for the line out of the saddle from under the bridge. The same riders challenged but I was able somehow to hold on and we took the second prime.

With two laps to go El Luch decided to have some fun. He got a jump on the field and I bridged the gap to join him. The field must have been crapping their spandex because here was a well known strong finisher AND the race leader (at least on paper) out ahead of the pack. We traded pulls and kind-of gave the impression that we were working together to put the race out of reach. The reality was that we were not that serious about getting away and expected to get caught but just wanted to mess with them. We did get caught but with no lasting damage to either of us - good times.

The primes are a bit of a lark but the finish is serious. You have to understand that not everyone is interested in contesting the primes, but EVERYONE is interested in contesting the finish. At the start of the final lap a rider attacked and got about 30m ahead. The Quiet Achiever jumped and gave chase and I dropped in behind him. The pace was very high and we were slowly reeling him in. In the back straight QA indicated that he was knackered. But in an epic display of sacrifice kept the pace steady and kept protecting me. It was a magnificent pull and came from deep within.

Cornering that final bend I could sense the marauders approaching and jumped from QA’s wheel into the tiring rider who had attacked earlier in the lap. By this stage he couldn’t blow the froth off a glass of beer. I took my balls out for a third time and made a bid for the line but a little earlier than in the previous sprints. It was head down, arse up time again. I was ahead and within about 100m of the line when I heard a sound to my extreme left. It was Speedy Gonzales shooting past everyone, solo. I was stunned. First, at the effortless acceleration, and second, by the fact that no one had bothered to mark him. They were chasing me instead. I was caught by two others on the line to finish 4th past the post. It was a brilliant move by El Luch. They all forgot about him – the most dangerous OBRA cyclist Norte de la Columbia.

It was a Hammer Velo quinella - first and second. El Luch got the overall win and I managed 2nd with the prime points. I would not have gotten such a good final standing if not for the protection by El Luch and the Quiet Achiever in the lead-in for the three sprints - it was a great team effort and one that was executed perfectly.