Me Legs is Rubbed Right Raw

Second race of the season this morning in Celena. This one went 200 times better than the first....other than a little slip up in the last kilometer. I got to know who was strong and who wasn't in the last race and decided that the Plano guys who destroyed the field last time were the ones to watch. As the race began I decided that I wanted to follow the wheel of the fella who seemed to lead that team, and instead of jumping at every attack, this time, I watched to see how he would react as I figured he knew everyone's strength better than I.

This went perfectly and I stayed in the top 8 guys the entire race and only went to the front twice. At one point during the 3rd lap the fella I stuck to the whole time dropped back beside me and with a smile and a heavy southern accent said, "You always seem to be in the perfect spot, I think I'll hang onto your wheel and take second across the line." I laughed a bit and told him I was hurting something awful. I was super happy at this as I've never really been the smartest at anything I've been into. I've sort of always been the idiot who goes too hard too early and usually pays for it. This is probably most evident in the way I ride my bmx. At one of the first comps I rode in I tried to backflip a jump before I could comfortably jump it. Idiot.

Anyway some attacks went and were brought back and then the stronger guys started going. I had a part in chasing all of these down, which I was pleased with and even got my hr higher than ever before. The fella I had been hanging onto launched a super heavy attack about 1/2 way through the last lap and nobody seemed to want to chase him down. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do but I went to the front, and pushed it as hard as I could and brought him back.

So we're 3/4 of the way through the final lap and I'm 4th or 5th wheel I'm just hurtin' but am absolutely certain that I'm taking the win. As we're cruising up to the last little climb before the stretch to the line I got bumped over the yellow line. The hell I was going to drop back 10 places to an opening and lose my spot, so I accelerated a bit to go past the guy who bumped me. As I'm doing this the referee comes up to my side and gives me the boot to the back of the group. I argued a bit but kind of knew I was wrong and just sat up and drifted all the way to the back. When I got back there he said something like "You're lucky, I won't make you go all the way back to the cars." and told me to get back up to the group. So I figured I'd gun it and sprinted by everyone and back to the front. I completely emptied the gas tank doing this and as I got to the front the sprint for the line was starting and I had nothing left. I was passed by just about everyone as I soft pedaled the last 200m. Damndest thing, though, there was a wicked bad crash at the last sprint and 4 or 5 guys were lying on the road as I came over the last little hill so maybe I got a bit lucky by being penalized.

Anywho, off to the hot tub.