Did the 55+ which was only 2 laps and 42 miles, finished 5th. Even though it is 2 hours plus away I like this race, even more so this year as a number of the formerly rough roads were newly paved. Oh, pulled 5 goat heads from my tires right before the start, thanks for the reminder, Mike. This is a good course for me, no big climbs and a long uphill drag to the finish. After the second time up the long uphill the pack thinned to about a dozen guys. Throughout the race the 3 or 4 Morgan Stanley guys attacked one after another. Most of us participated in chasing them down.
The last three miles or so I was soft pedaling at the front and since last year I got boxed in on the uphill before the left turn to the finish and finished 8th I was not about to let that happen again as I felt very good. At the base of the hill after the bridge a Taleo guy took off and I got on his wheel, in hindsight I should have waited a rider or two but I didn’t want to miss out again. But just as he ran out of gas about 5 guys went around us before the turn and I was able to catch on and pass one guy for 5th. (No Morgan Stanley guys in the top 5.) A little disappointing but hey, I got a t-shirt. (Let’s see, a tank of gas $55, entry fee $35, San Ardo RR t-shirt, priceless.)