BP: 7th in the Big Dog Race? Whoa...

Last week, just 2 days after a full weekend of racing, I lined up with the other local hot-shoes for another shot at Tuesday Night Glory. I was still hurting pretty bad from Sunday's TT, and had to put down some slightly stronger efforts than I'd wanted to get to work on time.

Knowing I didn't have it in the tank to just mix up with the bulldozers, we had a quick team strategy session before the race and decided to do things differently. We're not a big threat in that race, so nobody's really watching for us to make power moves. In fact, the two principal teams are so consumed with each other, they'd probably not notice much of anything we might try. And even better for our efforts, there's another team that brings big numbers and tries every week to make something happen, so we're even less likely to be noticed.

As the race got started, it was gloriously languid enough for conversations to take place through the group. I sat back and relaxed at the back, feeling that I might have one big effort, maybe, somewhere in the race. I sure as HELL wasn't going to waste it on a prime this time.

So I waited, and I watched, and I learned a lot. Sure enough, the two principal teams were so focused on marking each other that they were throwing out efforts left & right. Back to front, roll off, repeat. Team #3 was trying to make breaks happen, but nobody was biting, and amazingly, the group stuck together.

When the final prime rang, and the dust settled, I jumped, bringing a pair of unattached riders with me to the front and throwing them into the wind. They rolled out to a 10-meter lead, but I had no interest in trying to power off the front of the group, so I let their efforts expire...just in time to be set out into the wind myself for a full lap. With 3 to go. Yikes. Had I fired the cannon too soon?

I paced down like crazy, and the group settled with me. I dragged them through the kudzu on the edge of the course, and still they followed. With 2 to go, they jumped, and I had just enough gas left to jump with them.

Going into the bottom turn on the last lap, the group strung way out, and we hit 43 mph making a gap. I barely got across that gap as we rolled up to the final turn, and then I came through it like an idiot. Just like last year, when I didn't feel I'd "earned the right" to be there at the finish, I second-guessed myself coming out of the turn and allowed the others to dictate my placement. I rolled on power, but only 50%, hunting for a way through, and by the time I'd found one, the leaders were up the road. I picked up 2 spots and nearly grabbed one more at the line, but I'd finished in a points-paying position in the A race for the first time ever.