Collin Davis Lago Vista 2012


By: Collin Davis

A sunday at Lago:

Sunday's race at lago was a spot of excitement and trepidation for me. Lago's course run in reverse, is a course where you either have it or you don't. 5 short but steep pitches animate the out portion of the course. The steepest hill hits an impressive 17% and 15 times up it is sure to take its toll. Considering that I made a whopping 4-5 laps with the group last year, I had some serious doubts circulating through my mind as to how in the world I was going to manage this year. 'Fresh' legs from not racing on saturday were a hope that I desperately clung to.

My team? A constant source of encouragement and belief. In our pre-race chat, we encouraged patience as we believed attrition would be the word of the day, and that most early moves would be swallowed up on the fast, mainly downhill, backside of the course. Patience, make the splits if there were any, and see what cards we had left to play in the end.

The race unfolded mostly as we predicted, minus a few riders that snaked off the front in the opening laps. This move being well represented by elbowz was pretty sure to stick as they discouraged attacks, leaving our group to race at what seemed a pretty mellow pace with an attack here and there.

With about 7 laps to go the race started to heat up with some of the constant favorites hitting out at the top of the steepest section. Rey Rey and I were latched squarely onto each of these serious moves. This attacking continued until a solid chase group of 8(stefan, speed, wenger, sullivan, mercy..etc) formed with 4ish laps to go. Rey Rey and I found ourselves a smidge caught out, with 2 others, as we had spent ourselves following earlier moves. We were patient with our energy, or so we thought, but not quite patient enough. With C ray and I in the same group, the 4 of us caught the chase of 8 with 1 lap remaining.

With one lap to go, I felt pretty confident as Corey looked good and I seemingly felt fine. When we hit the 17% grade, my lights went out. Game over. Luckily I saw corey floating up with the group. Mario and I were the ones left faltering and I'm sure we were both wearing a look of defeat. Corey managed a strong 11th, with me slotted at 15th and koble bringing it home in 18th.

Most impressive on the day was Mr. Hercules who flatted 5 or so laps in and rode the remaining 50+ miles solo. Kudos

Solid results on a tough, tough course, with some steely competition. Things are only looking up from here!!

Day One 3/3/2012 
P1/2
15th Adam Koble Plano Athletic Cycling Club/PACC
24th Corey Ray Plano Athletic Cycling Club/PACC
2/3
22nd mike lalla Plano Athletic Cycling Club/PACC
52ndShawn Hodges Plano Athletic Cycling Club/PACC
3/4

Day Two 3/4/2012
3/4
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