Paying attention to the lap count is the other thing…

Here’s a little weekend Race Recap from another Factory Rider aboard a Raleigh Team bike. 

Hey kids,

Well this weekend wasn’t exactly what I planned.  And by planned, I mean I never planned on coasting through the finish in 9th wheel.  I didn’t even take a pedal stroke the whole way up to the line.  Let Me Explain. Men’s C Collegiate race “goes off” before they even hit the first turn.  Blood, and lots of it…..Hummmm you start to think…

Now, this Go-Cart Track was perfect and made for Formula One Style carts not the typical little lawn mower style carts. As the different fields continue to go I can see that this is going to be alot of fun. I mean you could rail a 180 degree turn so hard that you were pulling with your pedals to keep it on the tarmac and the more you trusted your bike the better it got.

It’s time for call ups.  No one remembers my name, but they all remember the RALEIGH and that I’m from Telluride.  We all start exchanging the hellos and then they announce “Gentleman you have a 45min race on 5…GO!!!!” So as the track rolls up, down, s-turns, weaves back and forth we have split the field down to about 12. Man oh man am I feeling good, haven’t taken any wind yet, and start to think I’m gonna WIN this.  I know most of the guys left in the field and I’m gonna take a flier and smash myself. Ya see it was way faster to be off the front and take all the crazy turns with speed. I look down at my computer to see we’re 37 minutes in, perfect !! As we work our way around the course the field starts to get impatient I’m thinking 2 maybe 3 laps to go we head around the last turn the speed picks up and I’m thinking ‘yeah, this makes sense with 2 laps to go’ as we roll past the finish line…OHHHHHH NOOOOOOO…that just felt like a finish.  Why did everyone sit up ? I look over at a friend and ask ‘that wasn’t it, was it ??’  Yeap sure was.  No cow bell, no ref. yelling 5 laps to go, no nothing.  Just me coasting up to the finish with not a care in the world………..and looking at my computer that still reads about 37 mins.

So I guess somewhere in there is a lesson learned……….but Sally and Fish I think we need to take a few hour trip over to the GO-Cart Track during Fat Tire and take a few laps !!!!!!!!

As a good friend once told me…….. “Remember, Rubbin is Racin”