IC3 DASH FOR CASH 35+ 4/5 – 2ND PLACE
Race: IC3 Dash for Cash presented by Hammer Nutrition – June 4, 2011
Event: Masters 35+ Category 4/5 – 41+ racers (11 DNF)
Course: 0.96 mile clockwise loop; wide turns, good to excellent pavement, wet
Weather: rain showers at start, mostly drying up during the race, about 66 degrees average
IC3 Racers: Sol Bechtold, Serge Plasschaert, Mark Klein, Robert Van Tuyl
Other Teams: riders from SJBC (2), TriValley Velo (10), Taleo (2), Team Fremont/FFBC (4) and others
Placing: 2nd
I really had no expectations going in and when Sol told me at the start we were going to ride as a team to support Serge and/or Mark, I was happy to do my part to slow down the pack or chase down some guys that were trying to get away… This being my first race I wanted to stay close to the front and keep an eye on any breaks so I could jump on a wheel if necessary. From the start the pace was around 24mph and did not go below that except for a couple of laps.
When Mark opened a gap I was in front of the pack when the guy next to me ask to close the gap… I told him I was on the same team
Maybe next time I’ll just tell him ok and pretend
(I’m wearing the older kit so he probably didn’t realize I was on the IC3 team). When the gap was closed, I took cover behind Sol, Mark and Serge and other riders providing much needed protection from the wind and I was able to recover nicely for the final laps and the sprint. Going into the last corner before the finish, I was in a perfect 3rd place with the guy leading out accelerating coming out of the corner. I stayed in the wheel of the TriValley Velo guy who won and waited for 1-2 seconds too long and was a about half a bike length short of taking the win…. Having said that I was really thrilled with a podium finish in my first race ever.
Look forward to the next race.
Christian Cycling-Hammer Nutrition
Robert Van Tuyl
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on Sunday, July 17th, 2011 at 9:30 am and is filed under C3.
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