Bubba #4 was a fun time. Great weather. Upper 60's and not a cloud in the sky. A pretty fast course in my opinion. Some of the slowest time of the race was actually on the paved road as it slightly uphill and headed straight into a stiff headwind. Along the way were three slightly tricky off-camber turns but they could be taken without too much difficulty.
I got a good start and spent the whole race between 4th and 7th. After the initial sort out I was in 4th and settled into 5th. The second barrier was at the top of one of the off camber uphills but it was preceded by a quick downhill and you could fly over barrier with relative ease. At least I did. About 5 laps in though, I misjudged the dismount and I barely got off the bike in time. My front wheel still hit the hurdle. It did not seem to be a terribly hard hit but I jumped on the bike and the pedals just spun. The chain had dropped. Shifting toward the big ring was not able to get the chain back in place and I had to stop and put it back on. Craig and Greg passed me and I dropped to 7th. I reeled Greg back in after a lap or two but that was the race and stayed in 6th the rest of the way.
I am satisfied with the result. The legs felt good despite some very minor cramping in the last couple laps.
Next week's race is at a vineyard down near Carbondale.
News Item of the Day: Frenchman John Gadret (Chocolade Jacques) scored a big victory on Sunday by winning the Vlaamse Witloofveldrit in Vossem, Belgium. Gadret beat top Belgians Ben Berden (John Saey-Deschacht) and Sven Nys (Rabobank) by eight seconds, feeling right at home on the hard parcours. "Last week on the Koppenberg (where he placed third) I felt in my element," Gadret was quoted by Flemish TV as saying. "Today, Groenendaal's crash was the key point. Nys was held up a little because of it. When I was riding together with Berden I felt that he was biting his teeth to hang on."
Gadret's big aim now is the World Championship in St. Wendel, Germany. "There's a tough climb there and I want to fight it out with the big boys there. I also want to finish on the podium in a World Cup race once."
I got a good start and spent the whole race between 4th and 7th. After the initial sort out I was in 4th and settled into 5th. The second barrier was at the top of one of the off camber uphills but it was preceded by a quick downhill and you could fly over barrier with relative ease. At least I did. About 5 laps in though, I misjudged the dismount and I barely got off the bike in time. My front wheel still hit the hurdle. It did not seem to be a terribly hard hit but I jumped on the bike and the pedals just spun. The chain had dropped. Shifting toward the big ring was not able to get the chain back in place and I had to stop and put it back on. Craig and Greg passed me and I dropped to 7th. I reeled Greg back in after a lap or two but that was the race and stayed in 6th the rest of the way.
I am satisfied with the result. The legs felt good despite some very minor cramping in the last couple laps.
Next week's race is at a vineyard down near Carbondale.
News Item of the Day: Frenchman John Gadret (Chocolade Jacques) scored a big victory on Sunday by winning the Vlaamse Witloofveldrit in Vossem, Belgium. Gadret beat top Belgians Ben Berden (John Saey-Deschacht) and Sven Nys (Rabobank) by eight seconds, feeling right at home on the hard parcours. "Last week on the Koppenberg (where he placed third) I felt in my element," Gadret was quoted by Flemish TV as saying. "Today, Groenendaal's crash was the key point. Nys was held up a little because of it. When I was riding together with Berden I felt that he was biting his teeth to hang on."
Gadret's big aim now is the World Championship in St. Wendel, Germany. "There's a tough climb there and I want to fight it out with the big boys there. I also want to finish on the podium in a World Cup race once."
1 Comments:
Great race Jim. The results of this one seem to indicate it perhaps favoured different skill sets than the others. There wasn't as much climbing I supose is the big thing. And not nearly as technical. I didn't even fall one time.
If you are there in time for the C race, remind me not to blow up!
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