Mark Foster's CCCX (Winner!) Cat 4/5 Report 9-6-11

CCCX at Ft Ord( 1 hour circuit race)

9-3-11 Written by Mark Foster
45+ Cat 4/5
33 riders
Team mate: Tom Rice

It’s funny how we all start our Ft Ord reports by telling how cold it was. It seems any race before 2pm in the Summer is a cold one. This race started at 11:20 so it wasn’t that bad, in fact warming through out the race. There’s a huge difference racing in the 4/5 race when compared to the open State Championships(Cat1/2/3/4/5). The Cat 1’s and 2’s pushed us rookies to average 2 mph faster for more than twice as far! According to Tom the last lap(4.5miles) of this race averaged 23.5mph pushing the race distance average to 22mph.

There really isn’t much to write about. It was fairly uneventful. There was a point with two laps to go that an Iron Data rider sprinted off of the front of the pack. In prior races(at other venues) this particular guy had done that before. I had always thought, “There’s no way he’ll get away from us with all of us chasing” …..he did(because no one would help me chase). So…I wasn’t going to let that happen again. After he took off, I picked up the pace to bring him back. Just as I started to do that, Tom passes me(realizing that I’m going to burn a match or three) and say’s, “Grab my wheel!”. It was an incredibly selfless act. Tom lit off his afterburners and reeled this guy back in. Then he and I along with one or two others worked together to pick up the pace for the rest of the race. He burned a couple of matches bridging that gap. Remember, he had already raced this morning, chalking one up in the “W” column. So after that little episode, the race got strung out the rest of the way. There was no mob going over the last hill. I grabbed second wheel on the final descent. As we approached the final turn into the sprint, I made sure to stay on the outside, so to not get boxed in. The leader and I got passed on the right side going into the final right hand turn. I accelerated and passed the now fading leader on the left and grabbed the wheel of the new leader. Tom was right on my wheel. So we were second and third going around the outside of the final turn. The leader runs wide, allowing a mob of riders to pass us on the inside of the corner. That’s when I began my sprint(with 200 meters to go). I easily passed the rider in front of me along with the guys that had started to pass me on the right. I think I won by more than a few bike lengths. I turned around fully expecting to see Tom in second place; because I had heard him scream “Go” as we started the final sprint. But between his morning race, the monster bridge and the brisk final lap; he had nothing left in his legs for the final sprint. He did help me get the win though. Thanks Tom!