Gluek RR Recap

Gotta say it. Epic. Definitely worthy of the term. Photo courtesy of Skinnyski.com.

Bagley didn't race today, but Scott Flanders and Mike Anderson did. For those few who don't know, Scott is a legend in these here parts, and almost always races Cat 1/2, except in crits, where he can double up. Mike Anderson is a legend in his own right, dominating the local racing scene back in the early 90's. I guess Baker coming out of retirement wasn't enough for the Masters 35+ group. Sure makes for great racing.

The start was dry, but plenty windy. Tailwind start to 5 12-mile laps. Things rolled out nice and civilized, and then I decided to open it up. As expected, I got to stretch my legs, but that's it. The racing was much different than last week up front. Lots of gutterball in the crosswind. Thankfully, those sections were short. The headwind section (with the hill) was quite subdued, in my opinion. The same people were constantly on the front. Bell and Goblirsh were major contributors to the pace.

On the second lap, Mike Anderson (Flanders) attacked in the tailwind, and Baker (Loon State), Coyle (Grandstay), and Jim Parker (GP) join to make it a break of 4. It looked good, except Birchwood missed the move. Binkowski and Maxwell move to the front, with some help from Brick (in town from Phoenix) and Verhulst. They have no friends, but Maxwell makes a huge dent in the gap in the crosswind, with the entire field in the gutter. Very impressive. The gap grows a little in the headwind, up the hill, but they are still close. Verhulst and Maxwell drive the front like machines and pull them almost all the way back in the tailwind section on the 3rd lap. They finally closed them down turning into the headwind. Unbelievable.

On the capture, Scott Flanders, Baker, Bell, and I try a counter, but it doesn't work. Then the storm rolled in. The rain felt like hail at first, but thankfully lightened up. Pretty subdued from that point forward. A few attacks here and there, but the tempo was fairly steady, with more gutterball in the crosswinds.

As we approach the hill for the last time, all of a sudden Treb pulls through to the front. Yes. Just what we needed. But where was he all day? Turns out he got dropped at some point in the gutterball, and had just caught back on. Straight to the front. What a teammate.

The climb was hard, but not nasty. So it was to be a field sprint. As we passed the 1K to go sign, I was 3rd or 4th wheel, with Anderson and Scott Flanders on the front. Goblirsh was right there too. I kept looking around for Baker and Macy, but couldn't see them. Just before 200m to go, Mike jumped to lead out Scott. I was on their left, and jumped. I left room on my right to allow Goblirsch and hopefully Macy and Baker room to come through. Next thing I know, Goblirsh goes down, and I hear a bunch go down behind me. I looked back to see it was going to be up to me to try and win. I switched over behind Scott, and drove hard. Mike pulled off, and Scott looked to me like he might have it. But I had time and room, so I dug deep. I ever so slowly pulled along side on his left, and just nipped him at the line. Dobbertin 3rd, Cragle 4th, Anderson 5th, Baker 6th.

Everyone survived the crash, minus some skin. No broken bones thankfully. Apparently Hollywood launched spectacularly into the farm field. Charlie Townsend also went impressively airborne. Mlinar got some facial cuts. Definitely could have been worse.

After we were done, I got to drive behind Jordan with Carla. There were only 4 older and 4 younger juniors. Jordan won the younger juniors. It was fun watching him battle the wind. I swear he was at a 30 degree angle some of the times.