First PIR outing of the year

In an effort to get more miles in my legs I decided to race both the 4/5 and 3/4 races at PIR last night. The Neighbor joined me in these adventures.

Paradoxically, the 4/5 race has always been harder than the 3/4 race for me. There are never any breaks that stick and it all omes down to firepower at the end. Also, with such a short race (6 laps and 12 miles) there is not enough road to tire out the younger riders. The Neighbor and I did some work at the front but I had nothing to give at the end and drifted across the line in 19th, saving myself for the 3/4 race. The Neighbor got 10th.

The other Jamie started in the 45-strong 3/4 field with us. We had not discussed a plan and were going to have to wing it. The pace was high from the start and, determined not to be dropped, I hung onto one wheel or another taking care not to drift too far back.

Then with about 6 laps to go, the decisive break formed. About 15 riders got away, including the other Jamie. The pace immediately lifted and I buried myself just to say in touch with the chase pack. When I had the time and energy to glance back a lap later, the rest of the field was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that I was part of a chase group numbering 12. Sweet!

Now..........for the first time since the El Luchador days I was in a position to influence the race. With the other Jamie up the road, I was disinclined to be an active participant in the chase.
 
Instead, like a demented rock-sucking lamprey climbing Willamette Falls, I sucked wheel as if my progeny depended on it. I took only a single, anaemic pull. The few that did not have representatives in the break could not broach the ever widening gap.
 
Satisfied that the chase would not be successful, I conserved energy until the end and sprinted early making them chase me down, which three of them did. I finished 19th to Jamie Blair's 6th. I was happy to have rode strongly and played a (small) role in foiling the chase thereby protecting Jamie's position.

Cherry Blossom Race Report

Wombat got dropped quicker than ..........

.....a tea bag at a Starbucks conference on National octo-americano day

.....a clydesdale with a parachute malfunction

.....a 7 year-old's broccoli parfait at the entrance to the Wonka factory

.....a bride's panties on her wedding night.

.....Brads trousers on birthday-thong night.

.....a honey badger at the petting zoo.

.....a keg of IPA washed up on a desert island

.....dad bolting when baby delivers a small sewer plant into his diaper

.....a Tea Party convention attendee who off-handedly remarks "you know.....Obama might be onto something with this health-care reform business".


Please feel free to add your own - I can take it. No, really.