Also did Early Bird RR
Cat 5, see above for course.
3rd/20-something-ish. Maybe 30 at the start.
I led the way at upper tempo for the first few miles, and then dropped back "into the pack". Or so I thought - after a bit I turned around and saw no one but the mentor. He told me a few guys already got dropped. Anyway, we continued at what felt like your grandmothers pace for like 15 miles. I didn't want to break it up and be stuck working hard with the better climbers though. A few miles from the steep climb, I rode to the front and set the pace for a few miles - nice easy tempo, but no one wanted to work yet so they let me keep is pretty easy. A few minutes from the climb, I pulled back to 3rd or so to get a minuscule draft before the climb. Somehow the field got split here...
The climb started with a very steep section. I very carefully shifted into my 34 (my worst fear was dropping the chain at this part). The climb completely scattered the field. 2 guys got to the top about 30 sec ahead of me, and 3 more guys were distributed between. Hit the peak and turned around - I knew I had about 2 miles to make up as much time as I could during the winding descent. Flew past 2 guys. A couple miles later I caught up with the mentor and a 3rd guy. I tried to work with him, but after 2 pulls I looked back and he was dropping. I eased up and he told me he didn't have legs, so I dropped him and kept hammering alone (with the mentor drafting me) for several miles. Ref told me 30 seconds. Damn, I wasn't gaining. A few miles later ref told me 1 minute, and I looked back and a few guys were gaining on me. 7 miles left. This wasn't going to work, so I eased up. The guys caught me with 4 miles to go.
It was a mix of cat 4s and 5s playing leapfrog. Spent a few minutes figuring out who was who: there were 3 other cat 5s. Hill finish. I stayed at the back until just under 200m to go, then sprinted around the others and ended up with 3rd place!
