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April 23, 2008
Opus Take 2
Opus was last night and I was feeling a lot better. I backed off my intensity in training quiet a bit between last Tuesday and yesterday, as I felt so spent last week. Coming into this week I was excited, as my legs felt fresh and I was not dealing with any cold/allergies, etc. My goal was to go for at least 2 sprints with a hope of scoring points in both. I also decided to race without the Power Meter and just go by feel, which also meant I got to ride my race wheels, which always make me feel faster.
We had one more addition to our Cat 4 Loon State team as Jens showed up this week. So it was myself, Chris, and Jens representing and we all felt pretty good. As the whistle blew, I drifted back to about the middle of the pack and kept myself protected from the wind (which was really a non-factor) and from doing any serious work. As we crested the hill going into the first sprint lap a rider took off the front and opened a gap. Another rider (I think from either Flanders or Grumpy's) started to pull away. He made a jump and then swerved over as if he expected me to pull through. I remained patient and he ended up leading me pretty much all the way around. As we turned the corner to the final hill, I jumped hard and was able to gap the distance to one rider, but did not catch the another guy, so I ended up second. After the sprint, the group typically slows a bit and in order to catch their breath. However, Jens comes flying through and goes right off the front. Not sure what was going on and being slightly cross-eyed from the sprint, I dug in and went to catch up the Jens and the handful of riders following him.
We all regrouped and before I knew it Chris was off the front with a couple of other guys, so Jens and I sat up and let others do the work. Chris and his group ended up getting caught before the sprint, but I chose to sit it out as I was still catching my breadth. After that sprint, Jens pushed off the front for a bit but again was caught coming into the 3rd sprint (which felt like it was a lot slower -- I assume most guys were trying to save it for the last sprint). The lap after the 3rd sprint I was run off into the grass and had to let the group pass me by so I could safely chase back on. I wanted to get a good position for the last sprint and made my way up to the first 1/3 of the group again. Coming into that final lap, Chris put himself on the front and strung out the field. I was sitting fourth as we came into the hill. As the sprint geared up two Flanders guys started to go. I was able to latch on and it looked good, but I knew there were guys on my wheel. Well they came around my left side shutting down my lane, but to be honest I was on the rivet and probably could not have come around. I ended up fifth in that sprint and fifth overall. I was stoked and felt like I got some retribution over how bad I felt last week. At least this race gave me some confirmation of my form. Thanks to Jens and Chris for keeping the race aggressive.
I stuck around for the Women's and the Cat 1/2/3 race and really enjoyed seeing everyone else go after it. It is amazing how much support our riders get in this race and it was great to see so many Loons out.
Posted by kermisch at April 23, 2008 11:11 AM