NC Grand Prix, Day 2

For some reason, it's not until the second lap that I start feeling right. Once I reach that point, I feel like I can go forever. Definitely longer than the 45 minutes they give us. Unfortunately, I'm usually somewhere in the back third of the pack by then. As others start to fade, I leapfrog ahead and move a little closer to the front, usually finishing somewhere between 10th and 15th place. So it's not so much the start I need to work on as the second half of the first lap and the first half of the second. Same old script today. Hung on to the back of the lead train for about half a lap. Lost contact and even got passed by a few. And then felt strong for the last 4 laps, re-passing all the passers and a few more. I ended up basically trading punches with one other guy all race long. We took turns attacking one another for several laps, but neither of us could shake the other. It turns out he was the same dude who was wearing the Special Edition Haiku Jeff Wool Jersey in that picture from yesterday. He was also wearing a black, red, and white jersey named after a local brewery. Wierd. If the FGBC is looking for a sister club in Nashville, it seems like there's a good match. Anyway, he got the better of me in the end. But I still managed my best finish so far: 11th place. Full results here. Still not the top 10, though. There's only one race left.

Overall, the course was awesome. Not really like anything we've done in Winnipeg. Fast and flowing with long, swooping corners. But there were also enough tricky bits to keep you on your toes. This was the host race of the same group that oversees the entire series. They put on a really good, well organized event. And people have responded by driving from all over the southeast for the weekend.

You MUCR folks will be pleased to know that the sweetest skinsuit in the world is getting some some attention--and not only from me riding it through the tape. As I was riding a cool down lap with the Special Edition Haiku Jeff Wool Jersey dude, someone yelled out that our outfits made us look like we were from Rock Racing squad. Thanks, but I don't think so. A lot of people really seem to hate those guys. I am not one of them. I actually find them kind of refresshing. Kind of like the yang to Garmin's squeeky clean, prep school yin (Tyler Hamilton ended up on the wrong team). It's just that Michael Ball's got nothing on the poosher.

Don't be afraid of the dark: Special Edition Haiku Jeff Wool Jersey

leading the Sweetest Skinsuit in the World.

They call it the wall. It was steep.

In the Cat 4 race, more than one person fell

and tumbled all the way back down to the bottom.

Fortunately the sweetest skinsuit in the world did not hit the ground.

This time, we stuck around to watch the elite men's race. Jeremian Bishop won again. Yesterday he won a close one in a sprint out of a group of four. Today he was off the front with Steve Tilford and Russell Stevenson from the first lap. Jonathan Baker got the hole shot and led early on. But Tilford attacked and got a huge gap. Stevenson bridged up first. And by the end of the first lap, Bishop had crossed the gap as well. They worked well together, extending their lead with each lap. On lap three, Bishop crashed right in front of me on a sandy off-camber turn leading up to the wall. He went down hard and Stevenson attacked immediately, getting a decent sized gap. But by the next lap, Bishop had caught back up. And then with two laps to go, he stepped on the gas. By the time he came back around for the bell lap, he held a 30 second lead and cruised to a win that no doubt looked a lot easier than it really was. Stevenson beat Tilford for second place.

No, no. Not like that.

Much better.