Berlin the hard way

Hm. Seems that in retribution for my great start position on Saturday I got dished the 5th from last call up today. I think there were something like 70 starters, so there just isn't much you can make from that situation. I am pretty happy though, as I managed to make my way into 21st when all was said and done, and not having to kill myself for it at that. I did have to ride pretty damn hard for the first 2-3 laps or so to get past all the choppers and into a good group, but after that it was just cruising until I turned on the jets on the second to last lap to see what kind of damage I could inflict. Not much, but a little :) I guess that's a start. Racing here it's super hard to jump between groups after the opening few laps, so if you haven't made it then it's better to just chill and save your bullets for the next race.

A little about the course now, I guess. Well, if I'd had body armour I probably would have strapped that on, becaused 75% of the round was on narrow, fast and ridiculously slippery mossy pavement paths. Add some significant elevation change, fast corners and that's a recipe for complete carnage. Oddly enough I did not see any crashes, but quite a few close calls. Three stair runups and a rubberized running track for start/finish completed the circuit. I'll be happy if I don't have to race there again! It's funny because after a few recon laps I was super-bummed and scared. I made open predictions that I would either be at the front, or straight out the back. I had the form for the front, but not the start. Next time...

Another good day for Stevens, with Heule taking the win and CvdB third place.

I should maybe point out now that I did have a less than comfortable hangover on Sunday morning, which made my morning (or noontime) recovery training and subsequent schmoozing chez Stevens a little rough.

For my midweek update this week I will expound on one of my favourite topics - glueing tubulars (the right way). Stay tuned.

GReain