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monterey peninsula college
2005/09/25
cat b
7th/23
teammates: none

i was reasonably happy with my performance in this first 'real' race of the season. i had a good front row position at the start, but forgot that rod doesn't give a 10-second warning or anything. just 'have fun! {whistle}'. i only had one hand on the bars at the time, so i got a bad start and probably hit the first runup in around 15th place. i had banged my knee up a bit at dfl finals the previous day. after getting tangled in traffic at the top of the runup and scratching my thigh on someone's bike as i tried to remount, i decided to not take too many chances. i resigned myself to work on my pacing, try to be smooth, and work my way around people. my pacing seemed to be pretty good, as i was able get past half of the people in front of me before the race was over. the next two were < 0:30 up, so with a better start and fresher legs, i think maybe i could have gotten them too.

so i'm sitting in a pretty good position in b's. i feel like i'm in the race, but not sandbagging (1 and 2 finished almost 2:00 up). my average lap time was about 5:40, which would have put me around 21st/25 in the a's. not dfl, but close. and that's if i could maintain it for 3 more laps, which is doubtful. despite the heat i've been getting from some sectors (you know who you are) for not upgrading yet, i feel like i'm in my element in the b's. i'm looking forward to one more year of feeling competent and hopefully enjoying some top 10s and call-ups before throwing myself to the wolves in the a's.

i'm bummed to not be racing with some of my 'mates from the b's who upgraded (aron/isaias/eric). it was great to watch that red train stream on by though. i will be watching, learning and preparing myself to join it in due time. for now, someone's got to represent in the b's.

<br> - killer b