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Place:
5th
Site: Bonita, TX
Current Standing: 6th,
563 points
Well, I finally did it. Got off the line in something better than last or near-last. In a big way even. A holeshot? Nay, it couldn't be, you say. Yes! I was off the line and around the first turn in 1st place. I lobbied the race officials to call the race right then and there (you know, due to the heat and dust and all; just looking out for my fellow rider), but my pleas were in vain. The race had to go on.
Early reports on the relocated TCCRA race #2810 had it ironically being somewhat similar to the deposed Pecan Flats. Not many tree sections and lots of back-and-forth in flat fields. The early reports were somewhat less than accurate. Sand was abundant, and the terrain across the fields was much less of a stop-and-go affair than Pecan Flats. I really liked the course layout, it's my strongest suit as a rider; too bad I'm woefully out of condition. The layout was also ideal for the conditions: unbelievably hot (the high temp. on Saturday was well over 100 degrees).
Saturday I concentrated on downing as much liquid as humanly possible. I knew that between just existing in that heat and practicing, I would lose a lot of water. My final tally on liquid intake stood at 12 liters; you could say I became intimately familiar with the adjacent port-a-potty.
Well, since I already removed all drama in the first paragraph, you know how my race started. I guess the planets were aligned just right on this day, for my brain communicated "go" to my muscles at precisely the right instance, the bike didn't bog or wheelie, and my competitors seemed to recede as I released the clutch. I had a clear shot to the first turn! I was so excited I promptly T-boned an ant turd and went over the bars! Not really. I was just hoping I wouldn't dump it in the first hairpin turn and blow this opportunity. I made the turn and had clear sailing in front of me. At the end of the first straight was a hard left into a tree section. On my left appeared Chris Horton (J31), and he out-braked me nicely and made the left-hander in front of me. Well, that lead didn't last long. I knew it was extremely dusty so I tried to stay as close as possible to him while at the same time putting up a nice plume of dust for the guys behind me. I know that most of them are faster, but the dust would be my ally.
I held second and was right behind Horton until a couple of miles into the race Brian Mullen (J95) blew by me as he powered around a sandy turn with more umph than did I. About a quarter mile later there he was on the ground and I motored by. I continued to chase Horton until I was the one who dumped it. It proved a costly mistake, as not one, not two, but three competitors went by as I was struggling to re-mount the scooter and get it re-started. First was Nate Dogg (J98), then came Craig Pundt (J17), and the last to go by was Mullen. I wasn't going to hold them off for long anyway, but dumping it in the sand like that takes a lot out of you, and I needed to conserve all the energy I could for riding.
This put me in fifth, where I would eventually finish. But it would not be without a tense battle. On lap two, I dumped it again, and when I got going I noticed Darren Fleming (J30) was right behind me. I would be unable to shake him for the remainder of the race. Back-and-forth we went, though I never let him by. He'd pull up to my rear wheel, then I'd put a little distance on him. Then we'd repeat that ritual. It went on exactly like this until the checkered flag. On what turned out to be our last lap (unbeknownst to me), he got extremely close when I slowed a little at the end of a straight to get some water squirted on me about a mile from the finish. One, I didn't realize this was our last lap, and two, I didn't know he had gotten that close again. I nearly blew it, but was able to hang on until the end.
This finish keeps me in 6th overall for the season, 73 points from 5th and 63 points ahead of 7th. Barring a disaster of some sort, I doubt I'll be catching 5th, and hopefully I can continue to finish consistently enough to hold 6th. If only I could get off my lazy arse and do some conditioning, maybe I'd do a little better...
