Kreb Friday Night Race Report

I drove out to Riverhead for this evenings Kreb Friday Night Race. I rode the "B" race, which is Cat 4 & 5 riders. After signing in and a few warmup laps, we all took a break to watch the kids races. When they finished, the A, B, and C groups lined up for the staggered start. The B race was 15 laps, which gave us a total of about 28 miles of racing.

I led the group around for most of the first lap. It was mostly status quo until the first prime at six laps to go. I got 3rd or 4th in the sprint for the prime, but the 2nd place rider kept going and I motored up to get on his wheel. Most of the others sprinting for the prime sat up. The two of us had a big gap for one lap. A chase group of three riders bridged up to us and we were a break of five. We hammered away for a lap or two. When I looked back, the rest of our group was nowhere in sight. We all put in some good, strong pulls to make sure the break would succeed.

On the final lap, I ended up in a less-than-ideal situation, taking the final pull to the bottom of the last climb before the finish. As I drifted to the back of the group, Dan opened the sprint with a strong acceleration. I could not respond immediately. Before I could get a couple of breaths, Victor was on his wheel and they two of them gapped the rest of us. They finished one and two, Victor with the win. A fellow East End teammate, Chris nabbed third, ahead of me by a couple of bike lengths. I gave it all I had and crossed the line for fourth.

A satisfying race in that I put in a big effort to make sure the break stayed away, and it did. It may have cost me a top three at the end but if the whole group of twelve made it to the finish together, I think there were a few more strong sprinters who could have finished ahead of me.

On a side note, I met my companion from last week's Brands ride. He raced the A group and got 5th. A great result for him. Will probably do Brands tomorrow morning. Caio!