Wow, we tore it up today.
Brad and Tyner started the race and did the first 20 miles or so to Hwy 15. I started the day for us and had about 1k of climbing in my first seven miles. When I started, team type 1 was 3 minutes in front of me. They actually started the race 3 mins ahead of us, so kudos to Brad and Tyner for matching their pace for the first 20 miles. Six miles into my first pull I caught the TT1 guy (thats 30 seconds/mile). I passed it off to Andrew in Valley Center and he rode it down to the taco shop in Pauma Valley. It was my job to do lots more climbing. With TT1 somewhere behind us still, I powered up about 2/3 of the Orange Grove climb, probably another 1k feet of climbing. Andrew wrapped up that climb and we shared the rollers out to the first time station at Lake Henshaw, still minutes ahead of TT1.
TT1 apparently was not happy to see us ahead of them, since they're not used ot losing. About 10 miles out of Lake Henshaw, there was a right turn toward Ranchita. Andrew overcooked the turn and lost grip on both of his tires. Crap, this is a rough way to start. Good thing is that Ed and I were close to the crash, so I just jumped on the road quickly while he picked up the pieces. Probably only a minute or two lost to the crash here.
By the time we hit Ranchita, TT1 was about a quarter mile behind us. Andrew took the descent down the glass elevator. When we relieved him in Borrego, TT1 was barely ahead of us. We were in for a battle until 8PM. We stayed on TT1's tail all the way out to our exchange point just short of Brawley. We were still ahead of them on paper since we started the race 3 mins behind them.
So typically Brawley is just an armpit that you just want to get out of. Not tonight. We rolled into a crappy hotel that had a small garden and a hose. I saw this as a much needed opportunity for a shower. We rinsed off with the hose, and grabbed some much needed food out of the cooler. Off to Prescott we went in the big suburban,with lots of legroom.
Time Station data:
Andrew and Jeremy Average this shift: 20.83mph, 27.94mph
Team Type 1 Average this shift: 20.18mph, 28.69mph
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