The Rally was today. Despite being sick the past week i felt ok. The race started out with a stacked field of the fastest guys around. After the mass start, everyone fell into a rhythm. The first climb to the top of the mountain wasn't anything crazy, and as i looked back from second i could see about 20 riders behind me. The pace really started to get fast after the first half of the first downhill, about 12 miles into the race, before we knew it, there were 5 riders in the group. We weren't going crazy fast, as it is really hard to lose someone on this course. Everyone sat in and bided time. I crashed down Bova ski hill while in first and fell back to 6th. Luckily nothing was broken (on the bike or me) and i caught back up to the group.The second climb, about 3.5 miles down from the 5.5 of the first lap was where the heat was turned up. Two guys broke off. A team hollyloft racer and myself bridged the gap and there were still 4 or 5 of us at this time. The last downhill took most people off, less 4 of us. Finally, the last Bova downhill i was in first, but i crashed in the same place as before! Then, the second place guy crashed in front of me, twisting his wheel sideways in the dropout. I bunny hopped over him, but the second and third place guys were right on me. Flying down the gravel road, team hollyloft passed me, i grabbed his wheel as third place came up. It was a sprint to the finish! The rider from full moon vista placed first, the hollyloft rider was second, and i was third, and it was all within a second. A good race. A big thanks to Shifting Gears Bike Shop, and Doug Bush at Endurancefactor.com they have helped me out so much.
Next up: race in the catskills.
Chris
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