Saturday July 22, 2006 Cudahy Superweek Race #9

Well I was a bit uneasy starting today. The course was lousy at best with an huge pothole 10 inches deep in corner 2. I decided today I would start at the back. At one point I was the last guy. Soon I moved up as I am pretty sure that some of the guy at the back had just taken their training wheels off. By lap 7 or so I was moving up with Andy R on my wheel. Before the race I told him to stay to the inside as the corners were fast dangerous and self cleaning and this turned out to be valuable advice as one guy went into turn 4 hit a cone which came into the racing line causing another guy to swerve and took out about ten of the front runners. Now I was convinced to stay on the front which is where I went. Again I pulled long and hard and got into several break away attempts. Nothing lasted but we were flying. The final lap in turn 2 I thought for sure I was going to crash as some knucklehead went through the pothole on my inside bouncing like on a bronco. I gritted my teeth and held on tight waiting to go down, however he managed to keep it upright. Coming out of turn two and in the middle with about 6 guys now on my left and right two guy right in front of me started banging into each other, I tried to move out but was trapped behind them. 20 yards later they were tumbling head over heels cart wheeling down onto the pavement hard. I was a miracle that I did not crash. I was in a full brake and was just about to run into one of the downed riders when a gap opened between the carnage and I was able to ride through. By this point I was off the back of the pack and had to sprint like mad to gain a few spots earn a 27th. Remind me never to do this race again. This race ends my Superweek racing and hopefully my regular Cat 4/5. Master’s 4/5 is great fun and I have a lot of respect for my competitors. Regular 4/5 guys are very strong, but some lack any king of brains, often taking ridiculous risks for nothing at all.