Pacific Raceways 4/28

Tuesday 4/28 - Pacific Raceways circuit race series.
This week they used the escape route off the track that includes a hill.

I was the only one on the team that showed up for this one. What a night. It was pouring when I left my house and drove through Issaquah but by the time I got to the track it was just overcast and dry. I registered and started warming up. About 20 minutes before the start it started to drizzle and then it started to pour like Texas (you know what I'm talking about Mike) It was fairly warm and I didn't bring the proper gear for the rain, just arm and knee warmers. I had no rain jacket or long fingered gloves. I started getting wet aand cold so I covered my bike, got in my rig, cranked the heat, turned on the seat warmer and just sat there. A ton of guys decided to bag it and the thought went through my head about 50 times. The 1,2,3's lined up and left. I was still in my car. The Masters lined up and left, still in my car. The 4/5's started lining up and I got. As I got to the line up guys were bitching an moaning something fierce about the conditions. The official told us the plan, 40 minutes and two prims then said to have fun and had us roll out. I must have lost my mind but all I could think about was all the spay I was going to catch in the face and how soaked I was going to get. I didn't want to be out there and have nothing to show for it.I Most of the guys were still clipping in and I took off full speed. II think half the field didn't notice and the other half thought I was just messing around and would sit up after a 100 meters or so. As I hit the first turn I probably had a 200 meter lead on the whole field. I was very surprised and wondered what the hell I was getting myself into. So far in the other three races I've done there this year no breaks had survived. I thought, "I'll just keep cranking until the first prim or until the field catches me. They finally realized what I was doing and started to give chase. We hit the down hill section on the escape route and I was able to go all out since I had the whole road to myself. Still, no one back there. At the climb two guys finally separated from the pack and tried to bridge. I put my head down and really pushed. I got through 1 1/2 laps by myself. I'm guessing about 3 1/2 miles. On the 2nd lap at the climb I looked back and the two guys still had separation from the main pack and were gaining on me a bit. I saw that is was the guys that are currently 1st and 3rd in points for the series(I'm 4th) so I decided to let them catch me since I had such a big gap on the main field and I knew they were strong riders. When they did I asked them if they were serious about this break attempt or if they were happy to catch me, slow down and let everyone regroup. They wanted to see this out so the three of us stared working, sharing the work perfectly. We were doing 28 mph on the flats and losing the pack. The prim laps were tough since we were alreay going full out and knew the rest of the field work kick it up a notch. At the first prim I sprinted it out but finished 2nd.(Crap). We rested for a second and the crowd (small as it was) really cheered us on so we kicked it up again. Our gap was building. We were about 25 minutes into the race. I was hurting but I started to feel my little plan was going to work if we could all maintain this pace. 2nd prim, 2nd again.(Crap). They told us we had two laps to go and we kicked it up again and caught the Masters race. I knew if we got by them we were golden. We did and then on the final lap we now knew that the friendship was over and it was every man for himself. On the final straight away to the finish I was 2nd wheel and realized there would be no drafting. 1st wheel went wide right, I stayed in the middle and 3rd wheel went wide left. It was literally a drag race to the finish and it was me against a 27 and a 31 year but the old guy gave it his all. We crossed the line spread out but unfortunalty I just missed out and took third. I have never been more happy at the end of a race, even those that I have won. That was the first time I initiated a solo break that went from start to finish. I'm still 4th in points for the series but we go until lat August. Those punks will feel my wrath (maybe).