Wow! What can I say about Caesar Creek other than I was darn lucky that day. I let the other women take the early lead because I know the trail so well I knew a super hard start wasn't a great tactic. I held it nice steady from the start and rode pretty easy behind 2nd place for the first few miles. Rather than take an aggressive pass I rode a bike length or 2 behind. Sure enough, on the first technical section she slipped up enough for me to crank it up a notch and put in a gap. When riding at Caesar Creek it is such an advantage to know the trail and to know when to shift, how to pick the lines, and what junk is just better to walk. It was also important that day to stay cool as temps were in the 90s. Thankfully, I decided the night before to fill the Camelbak up with 2X's the energy drink and then I threw it in the freezer. Cold, strong energy drink = one cool Bridget.
Anyhow, back to the race, I passed Christina on the next creek crossing. Then she passed me on the second root section. Then I passed her no less than 10 sec. later! Hilarious! We were both laughing about how narly the trail was. So, I guess sometime soon after Christina broke a chain. She didn't have the tools to fix it so she had to wait by the side of the trail until someone offered up some tools. Man, she has bad luck. I think that is the 4-5 race where something like that has happened to her bike.
After the last pass, I found myself surprisingly in first for the first lap. My hubby James was there which was awesome. He was a great cheerleader. My lead stayed strong for the rest of the race and I won my first OMBC race ever! Sweet! It was a pretty darn good feeling. Biowheels put up some awesome paybacks for the expert winners! 2x's sweeter! Thanks guys.
