Am I ready to face the most feared racers in our area? Nope, but I am working hard to accomplish that mission. Yep I am talking about Westlake, or as some racers call it "Worlds Championship"!
Tonight we had some strong riders there. I was hurting from the beginning, after an early attack by House. Then when I caught House, Martin attacked me! Well, I don't know if he did it to hurt me or just did it to do it, did you get that? Anywho, I finally got to Paul's wheel and about hacked up my Banana, first experience with that. Now, I am not one to hack up my food either. I have ate a whole chicken before a Time Trial, just ask the Orrville guys they know. When I mean before the Time Trial I am talking about 45 min before. Yep I can eat, I would probably win one of those eating contest, for sure!
Back to the race: I needed a break bad! So I was hoping no one else would jump. It took me a long time to recover but I knew that was going to happen. Finally I was tired of the slow pace, quiet before the storm, and I didn't want to be caught in it. So I jumped when Jim C. took off. After all of us in the break, took our fair share of pulling away from the field, the games started. Six of us in the break, Todd, Jim C. and Tom worked hard in the break. While I suffered to hang on, Brian joined us after making a Hugh effort, and Paul was waiting for House.
I have to tell you about a prime for 3 points. Brain and Tom told me to go for the prime 400 meters away from the line. They let me roll off the front and try and take it from the rest of the riders, Paul for one. Since they were close with the points in the overall. Ha, that worked great! Paul caught me with no problem, so mentally that crushed my chances of doing anything remotely close to sprinting. I told myself the rest of the race to just sit in and enjoy the ride.
So I did just that! With no one in sight, I felt horrible the rest of the race. Lack of power, confidence and intelligence. So I jumped with maybe 600 meters to go, they jumped on me so quick I sat up and prayed they wouldn't go flying bye. Some times you have to be careful what you pray for. The answer may not be what you want it to be. That was a different race though. This race I felt was handed to me. The pace of 17 mph before 250 meters from the line gave me plenty of time to get on the back and attack from behind.
Thank you Jesus for keeping us safe and thank you for allowing me to race again. I'll take three V's even if they are training races. I am just blessed to be on my bike again! Thank You Lord!
