To my demise I started the race in my small ring. Not really sure why. I was clipped in and had a bike length on the rest of the field after the whistle. I continued to shift down my cassette until I was out of gears. I tried to put the bike in the big ring — no luck. That Crux front derailleur is very particular. I spun out and got 3rd wheel with Bremer on the front.
Bremer had the taste of blood in his mouth sitting 2nd in the MAC standings and 1st place (Shane) not at the race. Before I knew it he opened it up and had a 5 second gap. Eventually I was able to get around the rider in front of me but at this point closing the gap felt hopeless.
We cross the start-finish and I notice that I only have one rider with me. He's made no attempt to get around. Pass a few corners and we come across Bremer off his bike with a rolled tire. I almost want to stop and help, almost.
At this point I'm COMPLETELY confused. I'M leading the race — this doesn't happen. The kid is still sitting on and even makes a comment to me at one point as I bif a turn — "come on". This doesn't make me very happy as I've been toting him around the course for a couple laps now. I turn up the volume and he's gone.
Now I'm riding the course alone. We're 2 laps into a 6 lap race. I knew this was my chance to win a race. It wouldn't be the classiest way to win a race but that's ok. I'm not very classy.
All I can think is that I need to ride steady and hard. Not mess up AT ALL and just keep the pace up.
Through the turny sections I see that Bremer has fixed his bike or gotten a new one and has now caught the kid I dropped. Now I'm worried but continue to keep the pace up and keep my wits about me. By the last lap Bremer had gotten around the kid and was coming for me full gas (this is a lot of gas since he's basically a pro crit racer).
As we're coming into the last 0.25 of the lap I hear a serious rustling of leaves. We're at the off-camber section by the lake and Bremer is passing me on the lower side. I knew this was a sketchy section and thought better of trying to squeeze him out. A lapped rider is in front of us and barely gets out of the way before we're back to the exact same spot where Bremer had rolled a tire earlier in the race. I'm behind Bremer and sitting on his wheel fine. We come out of the second to last turn and he puts in a hard sprint but I stay right with him. He speeds into the barriers and I'm somewhat timid. He comes out of them as I'm going into them. He sprints to the finish about 30 meters up the road as I sit up and clap for him.
That guy is a very good rider and a good sport. I'm happy to compete with him. Although this could've been my big day, Bremer got it. He fought back SUPER hard and took it. I wasn't going to serve it to him on a silver platter though. My day will come, right? Here's to cyclocross racing!
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