Auburn RR

Sunny and coolish warm with soft breezes- lovely day for a bike ride. Matt got in an early break with two Specs, so me, Stull, and Steve just hung out and watched Bike Shack chase. It was a good chase but I knew Matt and his new Specs friends were too strong to be caught. I was just hoping Matt wouldn’t get suckered by double attacks at the end. As it turned out, Matt whipped them both and took the win!

Joe got caught up in a crash midway through the first lap that happened just behind me. The rider on my wheel got (sounded like) a front puncture and went down and took a handful of guys with him. That’s the third race this spring that the rider just behind me has crashed and caused a pile-up. I must have a vault of karma. For anyone reading this, I guess the lesson is: You don’t want my wheel.

So, it was a day spent critiquing Bike Shack’s rotation and chatting with various riders. Eventually, the chase sputtered out and a few secondary break attempts started to go. Steve locked on the front and pulled the group most of the way back to the first one, then Eric and I got on the front and watched for others. Around 80-90K in, it became apparent that everyone was tired and any attack was pretty half-assed.

Things ramped up with about 10K to go but nothing stuck. I put in my own attack on a far-too-small riser with about 2K but I didn’t get anywhere either so I went again at the 1K mark and got a little space. But I was caught before the 200m line. A lot of riders assumed it was the finish and sat up but I kept going and got out in front again. But I was caught once again just before the finish and rolled across next to Stull in 7th.

We hit Blind Tiger at 37th and Topeka Blvd. afterwards. I highly recommend the Road Runner for post-ride refueling. Large chicken breast layered with brisket and covered in lots of cheese and pico with a side of beans and rice. Wash it down with one of their brews. I went with the maibock… then the pale ale… then the IPA…
photo credit: Philip Wilkerson