2014-03-02 Arizona Sr. Olympics
20K RR - 8 starters:
I attacked, which resulted in splitting the field in half. The lead 4 was me, a teammate, a friend of his, and a guy who didn't work very hard that I tried unsuccessfully to ditch by gapping him whenever possible. I attacked before a turnaround that leaves about a 250m sprint to the finish. Got a gap, but was too conservative in the turn, as they wanted everyone to 'play it safe' there due to rain the last couple of days. I wasn't able to hold it to the end, and finished second for silver.
40K RR - 6 starters:
I chatted with the guys between races about how we could make the 20K winner work, and we did that by starting to attack 10K in, always forcing him to do the chasing. The 3rd or 4th attack, he couldn't respond to my teammate. Teammate didn't feel he could stay out alone and started slowing, but as the 20K winner narrowed the gap, clearly feeling the work, I launched hard and bridged, screaming Go! Go! Go! I collected my mate, and we were away clean, increasing the lead through the rest of the race. Textbook. Lead was over 2' by the end, and I asked "So... we sprint for it?" He said sure, so I (a) made sure he was pulling as we approach the final turnaround, (b) took the corner as it should be taken, and (c) won the sprint. He does a lot of plyo and has a good jump, so maybe I should have a bit more confidence in my sprinting... or not
