Category A 45+u00a0u00a0
I was a bit tired to start after already doing 3 races in the week (1 IRL, 2 Zwift). I lined up with ~30 dudes for the 45+ A race. Course was on a church property, it began with a gravel sprint, to short pavement flat, then steep uphill, snaked down a grassy off-camber to a run up, then off to the dirt field for bumpety bump bumps, more gravel, then onto a grassy field with barriers, then repeat for an hour. Power course with benefit to those comfortably slipping and sliding on the dirt. Decent start, I was 3rd place coming out of the opening sprint. One guy went out fast and I rode the first u00bd lap behind him but then he had a mechanical and I started the second lap in 1st place. On that lap one guy came by me and just rode away (and went on to win). I started the next lap in second place but by the start of the next lap I was feeling it, and I had that u201cmaybe I should just quit and go play at the playground with my kidsu201d moment so backed off and focused on being smoother, saving energy wherever I could and that helped but I did fall back to around 10th place. Mid-race I started to feel a bit better so began moving back up, passed some people and focused on finishing strong. I entered the last lap just behind another guy, ended up finishing a few seconds behind him. Figured Iu2019d finished about 5th, hung around for results and was pleasantly surprised to have finished 3rd and gotten on the podium. Hoping for better results with more rest and with the first couple of races behind me now.
I was also pleased to see that Rudy had gotten 3rd place in his B 45+ race earlier in the day too, and to see photos of Travis impressively hopping the barriers!
Kyle Ashton