Tom gets the win!

Written by Tom Rice
Central Coast Circuit Races at Fort Ord, CA
Saturday September 3, 2011, 8:35AM in the wet, misty Monterey Bay fog
Elite Cat 5, 12 riders
60 minutes, Five 4.3 mile laps on a rolling course
I was the only CoreTechs rider in this race
Win!

This is my first race in the Elite Cat 5s riding with guys of all ages. I'm 10 years older than anyone else in the race and more than 30 years older than some of them!
After some nervous chatter at the start line and adjustments to the gearing for some of the new juniors, we start at the official's whistle and I lead the pack out for about a quarter of the first lap. As we crest the first hill, one of the young riders takes over the lead. He is a strong rider and is putting out a pretty good pace, making a very long pull. On the second lap, I move to the front and again make a pull up the first hill, amp'ing up the pace quite a bit. By the time we cross the start/finish line for the second time, we've dropped all but 8 riders.
I'm staying safely near the front for the remainder of the race. I make short pulls periodically but, for most of the race, our intrepid youngster hammers away out front, doing his best Jens Voight imitation. This same guy leads the pack for at least 90% of the race with the wily, old veteran on his wheel, doing my best Mark Cavendish imitation (with, maybe, a few wrinkles thrown in).
As we cross the start/finish line on the last lap, "Jens" starts to fade somewhat and another of the young riders leads much of the last lap.
My goal here is to stay safe on the last descent, be second or third wheel at the turn onto the finish straight and to not, under any circumstances, lead out the sprint. So, we make a clean, right-hand turn onto the downhill and begin our descent. The pace quickens and there are four in front of me about half the way down the hill.
As many of you know, on this section of the course, the pavement undulates, dips and is quite rough in places. At full speed, you have to be light on your bike in order to maintain good control. Unfortunately, two of the riders in front tangle on a particularly rough spot and go down, with a third rider crashing off the road behind me. (Lots of scrapes but no one is badly hurt.) I have room to brake gently and take a line between the crashing riders but a huge gap develops between me and the remaining riders in front. I make a substantial effort to close this gap before the right-hand turn and I'm second wheel coming onto the finish straight.
Coming through the turn, the racer in front of me doesn't want to lead out the sprint and he is slowing. I know there is a third guy ready to make his sprint but I can't see him. From somewhere deep in my old, jumbled, racing memories, comes an unexpected tactical decision; I fake the start of my sprint. I make three hard, noisy peddle strokes coming up next to my competitor and he starts his sprint in earnest. I ease up and fall in behind him, keeping an eye out for the third rider coming up on the left. With about 100 meters to go, I pour on the gas, passing the rider in front of me and make my sprint for the line… I win!!
This race couldn't have gone better for me. It was fun, I get my first win, I've ridden with a fair bit of savvy and I still have a couple of matches left for the 45+ Cat 4/5 race with Mark Foster. I'm stoked!

Thanks for reading.

Tom Rice, Bike Racer
CoreTechs Cycling Team