By
| Lindsay Blount |
Kenny Slaught and I raced on Sunday at Pine Flat. Awesome road course in the beautiful foothills east of Fresno…Pline Flat Lake is a gorgeous venue. We got super lucky with the weather with a window between rain storms with sunny skies for the whole race and about 60 degrees at the start.
Kenny and I were in the combined 60/65+ scored separately. We both had been under a lot of stress recently and decided before the race we both wanted to ride hard to maximize endorphins.
Kenny set a brisk pace at the front for the first 23 mile out and back section along the lake. The pack was not surprisingly willing to just follow our wheels.
61 yr old Emilio Cervantes (14th overall at the previous weekend’s Rock Cobbler!) gunned it up the short climb before the first 3 mile very fast descent. The whole bunch regrouped after the descent and Kenny followed by me were once again at the front for the start of the long flat section. I let a gap open up to Kenny, and I think partially thanks to his anonymity they let him go. He was off the front solo for the next 20 miles and reached a gap of > 70 seconds. One 65+ rider early on tried to close the gap by surging 3 times, but I was able to track him down. The 60+ guys did not seem interested in bringing Kenny back initially. Our reasoning was if Kenny got a big enough gap he might be able to stay away and win, but I could not let any 65+ guys up the road in case they could out climb him. A smooth paceline to bring him back meant I could sit on and counter at or near the base of the big climb near the end. Unfortunately, It turned into a 60+ surge fest once we made the sharp right turn at the 40 mile mark. Two of the 65+ guys were following all the surges trying to get up the road, so I had to follow all of them burning a lot of matches…seemed like at least 8 surges in the rollers prior to the big climb. Shortly after the start of the big climb the field had broken up, and I was with 2 60 + riders along with Brad Wiggs and Steve Clifton when we finally passed Kenny who still appeared to be riding strong. Steve and I had dropped the other 3 by the top of the main climb. 60+ eventual winner, Emilio, had gotten up the road and out of site at some point in the surge mayhem prior to the main climb. The descent after the main climb was sketchy with potholes and a lot of mud on the road. Steve and I got caught a few k prior to the final climb by the other 3 riders. I think the multitude of previous surges had gotten to my legs and I started cramping in both sets of quads, yikes! I went to the back of the group and pretended I was fine until the final short climb to the finish. Brad put in 2 more viscious attacks prior to the final climb, I hung on to the group trying not to cramp up completely.
The final climb to the finish is about a kilometer with a steep section near the finish , and my muscle physiology cooperated and cramp free I was able to gap the other riders and cross the line for the win. Steve 2nd, and Brad 3rd. Kenny held his place and crossed the line not long after our group to finish 4th. Kenny rode an amazing race after spending so much of the race at the front and off the front solo. Other riders were commenting a lot about how strong he was riding during the race and how strong he rode after the race. Not bad for his 2nd road race ever!
Going fast & having fun 