WWJVD?

Flatlandia Kermesse, 2010.

I need more races like this. It sucked working so hard to get into position and see swarms passing me across the centerline, hiding in the draft of those of us following the rules, but whatever, there's already too much grousing in bike racing, so I'm not gonna add to it. It was shaping up to be a long day. The first run through the dirt and the fun began. Bodies off the road for no good reason, to the left and right, a few piled up ahead of me. The pack responded with heat but within a couple minutes, gassers were leaving gaps everywhere.

It wasn't hard to leapfrog my way near the front, and the longer it went on, the more I was thinking...oh this is good, the 'cross racers were moving up no problem. I was still with some semblance of a lead group back on the road and it got fast. Turn onto section two and it was strung out long. I was making up ground again, but trying not to get ahead of my HR, and...hisssssss. I joined the half dozen guys flatting out.

Waiting for the wheel van I realized how well I'd been doing, with at least fifty guys passing me before I got a wheel, but now I was at the back again. Back in it for a couple minutes, and hisssss. Another one. Two flats in two minutes, so I rounded out my base training with more or less a 50 mile solo TT.

Second time through the long gravel section I pulled a ton of guys through the whole thing, I wanted to be up front to keep an eye on the line to stay away from sharp rocks, and I'm not gonna play games over pulling through when we're battling for 80th place here. My front wheel was a 700x20 track wheel and I never thought I'd make it. Needless to say, once we got back on the road, they rode off eventually but that was fine with me. I caught up with newly-wed Molly and chatted for a bit before snapping myself back into race mode. Every time I passed near the s/f I thought I should just pull in, because there's no way this skimpy track tire will make it...but I thought "What Would Jens Voigt Do?" Needless to say, I soldiered on. I may not have any stellar results yet this season, but I still don't have any DNFs next to my name, ever.

Yeah, it burned looking at the results and seeing the top ten filled with my 'cross dogs, but hey, that's bike racing.