Last weekend's Mill Creek Circuit

P6080372,
originally uploaded by morehek.

MVC's Mill Creek Circuit race last Sunday was another quality and well run event. It's a 1 mile closed course loop through a heavily shaded park with one climb in the 1/4 mile before the finish. It was a sunny 81 degrees and despite the wind, the air was heavy.

The race started out at a fairly brisk pace, which was less than optimal because the four of us (Rick, Matt, John, and I) had arrived later than we wanted and didn't have time to do more than a mile warm up. Pete and I made an early effort to stay toward front. Even though the course was closed, the road wasn't that wide and with the turns, hill, and descent it wasn't as easy to move around as it might have been otherwise. It did seem that I would do all my passing on the climb and if I wasn't really driving the pace on the front, people were passing me on the descent and in the fast turn at the bottom.

P6080402,
originally uploaded by morehek.

Going into the bell lap, two of the guys from Summit shot off the front and I responded. I made the mistake of letting a gap form between the two of them and not chasing the lead immediately. Coming around and hitting the hill for the 20th time and then hitting the headwind with 200m to go, I didn't have a lot left. One rider passed me for 2nd place, but I managed to hold out for 3rd. Pete grabbed 6th, Rick 9th, and Dave Trolio while 19th OA was 4th in the Cat 4 field. I had 23.2mph avg for the 20 lap race.

Riding up the hill a final time during the cool down was enough for me, and my original plan to race the master's as well was quickly scrapped. SBR had a strong race in the 2/3 with Chris B getting into the winning break, but just missing hanging by a hair. Killer Keller drove the pace in the field and did a lot of work into the head wind. Chris and Tom finished 11th & 12th OA and 6th & 7th out of the Cat 3 field. Dave S kept his tongue in check, not in cheek, and finished 17th.