The race organizer for Hillsboro-Roubaix said this of the race, and I quote: "This is a technical course. There are lots of narrow twisting roads, some potholes, blind corners, and you must race with the yellow line rule foremost in your mind. You'll have a pace car etc but if you descend a twisting downhill on the wrong side of the road in a blind corner, and a pickup truck is coming up the road, somebody must take the ditch."
The man wasn't lying.
Let's start from the beginning.
12 XxXers lined up for the Cat 5 "A" race. Everyone in high spirits, joking, laughing, having a good time -- like we always do. There's a chill in the air which has a couple of people shivering, but I'm feeling alright. Not warmed up, but alright.
The whistle sounds and off we go. The pack is tight and everyone is riding respectfully until about 1 mile in when some jerk goes to take the wheel infront of me which is clearly taken. He almost pushes me into the ditch before I ease off and he steals my wheel. It was either crash or back off. I opted to finish the race
About 5 miles in we hit the first of what became my nemesis: the hills. HILLSboro had hills. Lots of little ones and 2 pretty big ones. These are what got to me more than anything else, and at this first hill I was promptly spit out the back of the pack. For another 2-3 miles I rode within 40 meters of them but nothing I could do would bring me back, so I gave in to the winds and the hills.
Thankfully Jeff Kao and Ben also felt the pressure and were dropped at the same time. We rode together for a while when on a twisting descent Jeff hit the gravel and was forced to dismount. Ben wasn't so lucky. While trying to avoid Jeff's wheel he did a header over his bars and into the ditch. Jeff caught up to me rather quickly and we worked together for half of the 1st lap, but on the 1st of two big climbs him and a short train of mismatched riders dropped me. Ben wasn't so lucky. He kept riding but I wouldn't see him until the middle of the 2nd lap. When he caught me.
For the 2nd half of lap two I found a friend. I don't know his name, but he was an unattached rider wearing a USA jersey. He and I drafted off each other and pushed each other through the last windy straights and last 2 big climbs. As we rounded the last corner I asked "you wanna sprint for it?" and of course he said yes. At the 200m mark we both accelerated and I got out of the saddle, whipping my bike around and gaining on him. I finished about 15 meters ahead of him and he exclaimed "YOU SAID YOU HAD NOTHING LEFT!" to which I answered "I didn't know I had anything left!"
I guess that means I should push harder next time.