| Hungry fella...... There ya go.... Tour of New Braunfels Day 1 The sun was shining very bright in the morning. After a very good night’s rest next to my bed buddy Collin we got up and had some good ole continental breakfast. After some good frosted flakes, yogurt, a banana, and muffins it was time for some bike cleaning. “Capri” the name of my bike, she is a black beauty, was just a little dirty from the previous weeks of training and racing. It is not good to have snot rockets and sticky shot drink that Jesse let me borrow from a previous race on the top tube. So I give her the spit shine of her life. Super squeaky clean. After I clean Capri, she needs her racing shoes on. Here is where the Rey Rey’s come into play. Formally known as the Reynolds SDv66 or something like that, Capri needed some racing shoes that were customized to some dude named Corey. That is the lucky guy that gets to ride it. Well we were off to the races after some good San Antonio breakfast tacos. O my they were so good. After driving down the previous night with Collin in my truck, where we couldn’t feel my toes due to no heat in truck, the morning was looking bright and kinda toasty. We were jamming to some Moby “Extreme Ways” O baby!!!! We get to the race and I drop Collin off to get our numbers. I park by church. They kick us out due to wedding that is going to be taking place during our race. I move to side of road. We pin numbers. Put on race stuff. Slight warm up. Try to stay warm. Drink a lil coffee. The we were on the start line. Bang, the race was on. Minus the Bang, sorry used to running track races. The race was pretty mellow for the most part. Everyone was over the centerline including myself on several occasions but I was always near the front. The race got stopped 2 times while there was a break up the road with 3 guys. After some man pissy fits about center lines and what not, the race was back on for the second time. There was one section that got pretty strung out with a slight cross wind, but not enough to do damage on the pack. I saw Collin and Rusty quite a bit during the stroll througheast San Antonio. We had some chats on where to be and what to watch. Last lap, Team San Jose and Squadra are on the front. The break gets caught. Now the real race starts. It’s all about positioning in the last few miles of the race. I fight to maintain my spot while taking the abuse from fellow race. I smile and keep riding. With 5k to go Mcarty, Haga, and Craddick get off the front. I was too far back to make any sort of reaction. Game over for place 1,2,3. I find myself in a fairly good position with 1 mile to go. However, I miss the jump before the right hand turn right before the finish line. Come out of turn barley in the top 15. Now it was sling shot time. The wind seemed to becoming from our right. I took the left lane and used the momentum of the pack to launch whatever kind of a sprint I got. I started closing faster than I expected and ended up barely missing 5th place. I looked up and Carter was well ahead of the pack. But I was happy with my legs, Capri, and her Rey Reys. I found out later I got 7th, Collin and Rusty somewhere in the 20ish. First top 10 of the year for the boys, so the race was a success. I am feeling more confident in my sprinting and team tactics. I am looking forward for the more aggressive and difficult races. Huge thanks to the team and sponsors for all the support!! This wouldn’t be possible without you guys. PACCingly getting better at bike riding, Corey Ray |
