The Doom of Steilacoom: 2011 Version 1.0

This year there are to be two SCX races at Steilacoom, and as always, I'm looking forward to this venue, but as of now the first is in the books. I had a good race and feel pleased, but even with a 2nd place finish in the elite field anything less than first feels a little hallow. Even though Steven Fischer CRUSHED us, but don't feel so bad knowing he raced on the national circuit all last year.

As usual, by the end of the first lap the players had made their move and due to the non-technical nature of the course a groupetto formed: Steve, myself, and a new guy on the scene, Gian (John). The first three laps were constant attacking and I did my utmost to just hang on, but by lap three I managed to find my legs and lungs and I threw down a couple of my own attacks but only managed to dangle. The long dirt climb was the place where all the hurt was happening and sure enough, with 2 to go, Steve attacked on the climb. I was sitting in third at the time and could only watch as Steve opened the gap b/c I couldn't get around Gian on that narrow section, but about halfway up the climb in a wider spot I launched and put a good gap on Gian but Steve already had a 25+ meter gap. Gone! I felt like I closed it a bit, in places, and I definitely build upon my lead on Gian, but eventually Steve built on his gap on the final lap and I had to settle for 2nd. The final lap I could have taken it pretty easy but I felt great and rocked the course, but I still couldn't make headway on Steve. A great day for me out there, I was really satisfied with my performance and am happy that I can compete with the fast, young up-and-comers instead of having to race with the Masters to stay competitive.

SCX's race report was just as straightforward and truthy enough, although w/o the inclusion of the personal-suffering element its a boring read: "The Elite Men’s race had a lead group of three formed on the very first lap. The lead group included Steve Fisher (Rad Racing/Revel Consulting), Gian Dalle (Rio Bianco) and Doug Reid (Team Stanley). Fisher attacked on the penultimate to last lap and quickly dropped his companions. The 2010 collegiate national champion would hold on for the win, while Reid would roll in ahead of Dalle for second.