McDowell Mountain
Aggressors:
My group went off at 2pm which was nice for a change. I followed Dick Snyder off the Start line; I didn’t view any of the others as credible threats. I stayed on his wheel until the start of the climb and then moved forward. My plan was to work him every hill climb and try to drop him on the last lap so I would not have to pathetically sprint to the line with (sic “behind”) him. To enhance the plan, I rode my climb bike. I decided the downhill risk was worth the uphill advantage. No one even noticed my drive train and for once the plan worked virtually perfectly. I coasted the downhills, occasionally on Dick’s wheel, occasionally in front. I worked him as hard as I could without standing on the next to last lap and he pretty much stayed with me but he was breathing hard at the top and I was comfortable. On the last lap I stood and delivered at the base of the hill, and by the turn he was out of sight. I relaxed a bit and cruised on down to the Finish line for my first victory of the season.
-Rick E.
