Anger Mgmt Crit...my POV

These being my first races of the year, I went into the day just hoping to hang on the wheels of Lee and Marco. This course is completely flat with wide sweeping turns and lots of BOT DOTS. It made for an interesting experience for sure, especially the last lap of the 4 race.

The 40+ 4/5 race started off at a rather reasonable pace. Marc rolled up to the line right after finishing the 5's race. A few sips of the bottle and he was ready to roll. On the first prime lap Lee, Dan and myself were at the front and decide to make a go of it. Right before turn 3 I put the hammer down to lead one of the guys out and sure enough, Lee came stomping by after turn 4 to win a giant bag of Clif product uncontested. We were doing very well staying at the front, and effectively communicating. I heard Marc call out a few guys who were taking some sketchy lines, and at one point letting everyone know a 3rd guy bridged up to the 2 that were off the front.

The bots dots were definitely causing folks to change there lines. They were in turns, in the straightaway to the finish....pretty much everywhere. Your on your line and then all of a sudden you are feeling the steady pounding of the dreaded DOT. Kinda sucked but we all managed to stay upright.

The next prime lap I found myself right near the front again. Feelin frisky at turn 4, I go after the 2 guys that were off the front. I quickly catch on then decide to take off as I was feeling a lot left in the tank. As I go off, the guy in second position decided to make his move at the same moment. We bump shoulders a few times and then I was off to win a box of Simple Green bike cleaning products. Cool! (I actually wasn't even sure what the prime was at the time).

Sometime after that I realize I was WAY towards the back of the race. I never seemed to get close to the front again. I think the combination of the pace picking up on the last few laps and feeling the effects of 2 prime efforts got me. On the other hand, Greg and Lee got a great lead out from Major Motion dude Greg Freeman and rode it to 1st and 3rd place finishes. Nice job, fellas! Stupidly, I still sprinted thinking I could catch back some spots but it was effort wasted. I should have remembered I was to line up for the 4 race right away and to save my energy. Lesson learned. We do our recovery lap, congratulate Lee, and then lined up for the next race.

The 4 race...I spent 90% of this race hanging at the back, the very edge of the pack, just trying to recover. I was really feeling terrible. I could see Lee and Marco close to the front, as usual, but I couldn't get up there. Fast forward to the last lap, where the chatter picked up ("Hold your line!" "Hey, watch it!" "You asshole!"), along with the pace. From the last race, I remembered that the move needed to be made between turns 2 and 3. I dug in and made the effort to get up closer and somehow found myself in a decent position on the outside, right before the last turn. I put my head down and gassed it. Surprisingly, I start picking off guys left and right ending up in 9th, squeaking by on the left side. Once again, Lee rocks it for a 4th place finish.

There should be some decent pics too as Gary was there bright and early to cheer us on. I think he even got a movie of the finish of the 4 race. Who is cooler than Gary?!

Observations:
--Lee Ziff is an animal. EVERYONE on this team should utilize his experience while he is still with us...as I am sure he will be a 3 soon at the pace he is on. The dude is motivational and inspirational!
--I think the 11/23 I put on before this race was the right call since it was a pancake flat course. I am guessing it is what helped me gain about 10-15 spots in the final sprint.
--Marc's communication is great. Alert and not afraid to let others know whats up. And being 6' 8" helps keep track of the breaks. ;-)
--Primes are fun
--a trainer or rollers make for a much more effective pre-race warm up.

See ya'll at Tour of Murrietta Circuit Race on 3/9....

yow