One of the enduring aspects of the Rocky Balboa character was that he never won with good technique. The boxer, played by Sylvester Stallone, would basically wear his opponent down and frustrate them by presenting himself as a human punching bag. Well, last night, I was Rocky the Rider.
Going into the ride I had no plan except to try to stay near the front. By the end of the first lap of five at Donaldson Center, I was sitting on the front. The “warm-up” lap went easy until we were past the golf course. Then things picked up and I’m not even sure exactly how I ended up pulling through.
I moved over to the right to let those behind me go. I moved over to the left to allow someone to pull through. Finally, I just sat up and rode at my own pace. At last someone moved up in front of me.
The second lap was more of the first. I was trying to stay near my teammate Reece. Chances were that if a break formed, he would be in it. I had delusions of being there with him. We were behind about four other riders when he said, “You can go with any of these guys.” What he meant was these were the riders who could start a break and make it stick. Later he told me they were all pro/1/2 riders.
Toward the end of the lap – just over the railroad tracks – Brian Flinte and I bumped as we were wanting the same piece of real estate behind a particular wheel. It was no big deal. Our hips bumped a bit, but we both kept it under control.
Of course, behind us, you would think the world was coming to an end. “Whoa!” “Watch it!” etc. I heard Pappy grumbling behind me. I felt like turning around and saying, “Right, and you guys have never bumped into anyone?”
It never pays to let something like that get to you. Pappy came around me and pulled in between myself and John James, whose wheel I was trying to stay on. Then coming out of the dip up the hill to the fire station, he just up and took off after a couple of riders that had broken away.
Jumping on his wheel I made the stupid decision to follow him up. Why? I don’t know. I guess it was because I was going to annoy him. The two of us actually got a gap on the field and neared the two riders ahead before Glenn moved over. I pulled the short remaining distance.
When I got there, one of the riders sat up while the other one counter-attacked. No way was I going to be able to go with that one. As a matter of fact, my thought to myself was, “Why on earth did I do that?” It wasn’t long before we were overtaken.
That began my Rocky impression. I would move into the front riders and mix it up – sometimes pulling and one time attacking in hopes that the field would stretch and Reece with his pals could go off the front. However, I would expend a bit too much energy and have to slide back to recover. As I did, invariably I would come near John James. He said the same thing every time, “Don’t go any further back.”
The good news is that each time I was able to work my way back to the front. Finally, in the fourth lap, I decided to back off a bit. I knew I only had about three matches in my matchbook. Two of them had already gone up in flames. I needed one for the end.
I settled in behind Paul Mills knowing his wheel would be a safe one and one that could guide me through the crowd. The end came and I was pretty far back – probably thirty riders were in front of me. However, I was feeling pretty good as we started into the dip. Coming around on the left side I was making up ground quickly.
By the time we reached the buildings, the line was strung out and there were only fifteen or so riders ahead of me. I was joined by my teammate Matt Tebbetts. Once we reached the fire station, I determined I was not going to take the first position and I sat up.
It was a fun night! A couple times I was encouraged by the reaction of riders around me. The first time was as we were finishing the first lap. I was kind of staggered out to the side of a line. From behind me I heard the voice of a local pro saying, “Come on in the line, Jonathan.”
Later in the evening I got pinched over to the side of the road. I had to move over and then over and finally I went in the grass. It was tricky getting back on because the asphalt was several inches high at that point. Once again, I heard a voice, “Come back in, Jonathan.” Someone was opening a spot for me to get back in.
If you ever ride in a competitive group, you will understand why it meant a lot to me to have the guys do that. I try my best to be courteous and not over react when someone does something stupid around me. I’d like to think that those feelings are reciprocated when I do something immature.
The State Road Race is the next thing on my agenda. I’ll be taking it easy in the next POA crit (is that possible?). If I’m riding as well then as I was last night, I think that I will have a pretty good chance at a nice finish in Fork Shoals. Well, that is unless I go and pull a Rocky Balboa!
