Damn you race predictor! It said I was gonna get 3rd, behing James LaBerge and Dana Williams. It was right, in that order, but because Grounds Keeper Willie didn’t pre-reg, it didn’t mention him!
I had one teammate, Keith Hillier.
New course! Much safer, except for the suicidal shirtless drunks. Nice pin turn, tons of cracks, and so much turning it keeps you alert and paying attention.
With all of the sprinters around, I felt my best hope was to get away, but Jame LaBerge stuck to my ass like a swollen pimple that I just couldn’t pop. The race was damn fast and pretty technical. According to the result, 17 guys quit.
I think the most aggressive rider was Pat Briggs, he kept soloing off the front – and then saying “just kidding” and comming right back.
Some anouncements:
Tobin Ortenblad now rides for Cal Giant! Cool!
Brandon Trafton rides for Mikes! What? Is he taken Ground Keeper Willies spot? What happens if Grounds Keeper Willie gets kicked off his new team? Does he come back and take Brandons spot?
Trafton’s conversion to the Dark Side.
Whatever! (spoken in my valley boy dialect).
Any way, here is me sniffing Byron Anson’s butt. I don’t think I have ever been behind him, so I had to investigate EVERYTHING.
Please buy this photo from Alex Chiu!
and here is an example of the crazy pedestrians playing frogger….
That is me following Brandon and almost tagging a human frogger!
Basically, the race ended with Mikes (Brandon Trafton) leading out James, Grounds Keeper dive bombing the last turn before the sweeper, me starting to follow, then deciding the light rain was not the ideal conditions to dive the turn in, James and Dana following him, me wishing I had, Grounds keeper taking Jame all the way from the left to the right. Grounds Keeper won, James 2nd by a hair, Dana 3rd and me 4th. Tobin got smoked by a junior (Owen Gillott) for 4th and 5th.
James protested and Grounds Keepers’s dad tried to intervene, to which Grounds Keeper yelled “get out of here now, dad!” It was awesome. You gotta be fiery hot to be a good sprinter, and he is one of the best.
Keith got 14th and a prime.
4 comments
i just made the strava blog. hi mom.
Byron, you made this one too : http://h24cycling.com/2012/03/28/wards-ferry-road-race-and-regalado-road-race/
Wow, that was a close call.
Not an isolated incident. One of several close calls I saw that day. Lots of fun, but the sketchiest set up I have seen in years.