When another rider in the group attacks, you have only a moment to make a decision and react on it. You can go with them, let them go out alone and then chase them back down, or just ignore them. My choice last night was to go with the attack but, I found myself losing touch with the break and then bridging back more than once. Bridging a gap is not always an easy thing to do and usually it can be near impossible or out of the question all together. I stuck with a couple of attacks last night and even found the energy to launch my own, although it was a short one, but there were at least three times when the attack got a break and started to get away and I had to get back on. It's one of those times when a rider just needs to put their head down to muster up the energy to catch back on then rest in the draft for a little bit to catch their breath. I actually enjoy it because it's an awesome way to get yourself out of your own "comfort zone" and increase your abilities.
Last night's group started out with 12 great riders including the first 2008 appearance of Tony Kisch, super fast guy, as well as Kevin Temple, other fast guy. I feel like I ride better when we get some of the Cat 2 and 3 riders out with the group and last night was no exception. We also saw the likes of Rob Houlihan, the No Mercy brothers, Damon, Bullerman,
Mike Johnson, and then there were Brent Johnson and Clay Bertram from
Bike Tech who both made there appearances as well. I finally felt that I was able to stay with each attack or chase it back down, both of which worked out well. The group was well organized and it seemed that everyone worked hard. Eventually we worked our way down to 5 riders to fight out the final sprint of the night which went to J. Fry, I took off a little late and finished in 2nd. Next time...
I opted for the high-visibility of the Stage 1 kit
Such a happy little group...
...rolling out of Cedar Falls for some fun.
surprised J. Fry with the camera in Dike...
...where we all sat up for a regrouping and refueling...
...while Kisch complained of the high speeds. That's a first.
The group of six (Kisch is out of view) motoring towards Hudson.
In other news, I received an e-mail from a classified source last night that included a doctored photo of
Blue in Branson. It seems that one of our local cyclists likes to refer to Blue as "Sponge Paul Dresspants" and felt that hiring some outside help to modify this photo was necessary. So I present to you, Blue after shopping at the GAP. All in jest of course.
Read the complete post at http://carlosdajackal.blogspot.com/2008/06/bridging-gap.html