The first Kreb Friday Night race of the summer was held last night at Southampton College in Riverhead. I raced with the Cat. 4/5 "B" group. We had about 25 riders line up for the "B" group, about the same for the "A" group. There was a strong headwind on the back half of the course which affected the tactics for the race. Several breaks tried to get away but the choice was either on the front straightaway, which is downhill and the back straightaway which was into the headwind. Guys with aspirations for the sprint finish didn't want to work into the wind and that basically killed any breakaway attempts.
My big contribution was taking a solo flyer on the last lap on an uphill section at the end of the downhill straightaway. The pace slowed WAY down so I drilled it up the hill. No one chased and I got a big gap right away. I powered into the headwind and maintained a good gap until the final uphill when the sprinters started to wind it up. I was still in front at the top of the hill but by that time the tank was on EMPTY and I was quickly swallowed up by the sprint about 100 yards from the finish. Missed it by THAT much! The race was just 100 yards too short!
Got up early for the Brands ride this morning with the intention of making it an easy recovery ride. It started out that way and I was riding sweep with Jamie. At the turnaround point we decided to split into a fast group and a slower group as some of the Brands guys needed to get back to the shop. Nice pace going back and some good pacelining.
Probably do the Early Birds tomorrow. Was thinking of the ESG Time Trial Qualifier but I think I'd rather do 50 fast miles in the nice weather. Report to follow.
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