Book of Chad

I signed up for a Caleb pike B race since it was so close to home and I wanted to get some more crit racing in the legs. As I rode to the race my legs were still destroyed from the last couple or weekends of long hard races. However I knew I would probably be able to get a good result and some good points. I was hoping to keep the race as slow as possible and sprint at the end since I really didn’t have a long hard effort left. Jon on the other hand had a different plan

There was a small showing on this day, I’m not sure if it was the long weekend coming up or if everyone was just away for vacation. Jon was active and looked really strong and there was a few people I didn’t know. I wasn’t willing to chase any moves that didn’t have Jon involved so he had to do all the work. Midway through the 11 lap race as we went around the down hill corner a small gap was created in the middle of the group. I yelled to those around me from 3rd wheel to pull through because we had a gap. The group of 4 pulled turns with Jon definitely the strongest. We shrunk to 3 and then just 2 through attrition.

With 4 laps left it was just Jon and I. We were trading turns and rotating effectively. Going into the last lap I was pretty content with 2nd place it was good points to get with Trevor being away. Jon did a trial attack on the rise in the middle of the lap, I was able to catch on and he shut it down. As we rounded the final corner he pulled beside me gave me a fist bump and said “good job. want to make it a drag race with no drafting?” I replied “sure.” and we rode down the hill side by side. As we hit the final hill I started to open it up. A few pedal strokes in I heard some awful noises. A few more pedal strokes and I looked under my arm to check for Jon and he wasn’t there anymore. He had suffered a catastrophic chain drop and sucked his chain into his bottom bracket. I coasted to the line for my first Caleb Pike win.

Race: Caleb Pike B race
Distance: 28 km
Time: 0:46:25
Avg Speed: 36.2 kph
Avg Power: 253 W
Normalized Power: 296 W
Elevation Gain: 405 m
Place: 1st