Closer

Oh Granogue. Sigh. It was a beautiful day to be on a bike. The sun was shining and it was (gasp) warm. We (Joel and I) decided to arrive early enough to support our newest rider, Brooke. She was in the Sport race which set out at 9am.

Like clockwork they were off. We waited for her to come back around to give her a few more cheers before getting ready for our race. At registration we were given these Allied Milk Cycling bracelets. Well, that is what we told ourselves. Really they were to determine who had actually paid and who was poaching the course. MASS uses the same number plates all season to reduce waste and to speed up registration. Last year some people used this to their advantage by not paying to race.

At 11am we were all ready to go. The start of Granogue is a fast and furious paved road to a hard right into the woods. The hole shot is pretty important. If you can hit the technical stuff first you can dictate the pace of the race. I hit about 8th spot which I was ok with. Joel was about 6th with Eric Marklund between us. He's been riding very good this season and Joel and I had the plan to keep in sight.

We marked him for about the first three or four miles. All of us switching positions. Back and forth we went. When we hit a false flat grass section we both attacked Eric. We could see he wasn't feeling the best and we hurt him. Joel was riding strong and I felt really good as well. When we got ready to hit another section of singletrack I noticed Joel was no longer with me. I'd later find out he had some bad luck and flatted.

I came through to finish my first lap, not too far off the pace of the leaders. I went to switch out my water bottle when I noticed both bottles were empty. Both tops were also removed. It was like someone used them to dump on themselves. I was thinking "The third lap is going to hurt, a lot." Luckily I saw an angel...his name was Jerrod. I yelled to him to get me a bottle for the next lap and sure enough he did. It was a life saver too as my calves were tightening up with every revolution.

I went into "hang on to your position" mode. Every switchback I was looking over my shoulder. Every climb felt like I was in the Alps (well, as I imagine it anyway). Finally I was in the last section on singletrack when a guy came blazing out of no where. It was Steve Schwartz (Titus factory rider). I really had nothing at that time to respond to his power. I let him go figuring I'd catch up and get him on the climb to the finish. Turns out, I misjudged how close to the finish I actually was. As soon as he got around me, we popped out of the singletrack and were climbing the gravel/paved climb to the finish. He was gone. I took one more look over my shoulder to make sure no one was coming from behind and cruised up the hill at an easy pace. I even talked to Vegan Rob on the way up. He was doing the Enduro race so we just chatted to the finish. Overall 6th. Not too bad but I was one spot away from getting the Granogue Plaque. I have one from when I raced Sport several years ago. I did want another.

After the race I was talking to one Mr. FatMarc and he said he was hoping I was top 5. Well, me too. HAHA! He gave me a special 6th place prize, two Twin 6 t-shirts. I told you this guy does it right.

Even with a flat tire Joel still managed 18th. One spot back on a rider I was trying to get on our team before the season started. Marc gave Joel a pair of socks for his bad luck.

The best part of the race though was Brooke. Her first race on the Allied Milk Cycling team and she nails a 2nd place. The first AMC rider to podium in a solo event. We'll stick that one in our memory banks in case it ever comes up on Jeopardy.

Awesome job Brooke!

It was a great event all-around. The Dupont Estate was amazing. The race promoters were smooth and efficient. The course was beautiful and the competition, on point. I am falling in love with this sport all over again.