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 3^rd 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 1^st 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 10^th 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 5^th, hung around for results and was pleasantly surprised to have finished 3^rd 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 3^rd place in his B 45+ race earlier in the day too, and to see photos of Travis impressively hopping the barriers!

Kyle Ashton