I was the only one to race on this day with the absence of Rick Ortenblad. When I got my number I knew that I would be starting at the very back-upholding a long relationship I have had with USA Cycling - which is essentially, I give them money and they allow me to have the chance to pass as many people as I can. While I'm not as happy as they might be with this relationship , there really is no experience like riding at the nationals......even starting behind a whole field of your peers. Below you can see in print that not only was my call-up the last one, there's no point total- not even the points from the last nationals. By not racing last year because of injury I guess I am not in their records. They did not demote me to a lower category though....
So- I did my best to pass as many people as possible and wound up 18th. I can thank friend of the team and fellow racer Jim Gentes for doing Nor-Cal a solid and setting up a heated tent with trainers just for Nor-Cal racers to use.I used the outdoor trainer to stay used to the 32 degrees and did about a 30 minute warmup before my race. This would not have happened without the generosity of Mr. Gentes, who has year in a year out really looked out for Nor-Cal teams and racers. I tip my hat to you, Jim !
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