ACME Shorty #1

[Greg Alsterlind]

My favorite race of them all. Once again, Jim of ACME Bikes set up a fun event for all ages. This year he added the 35+ to the A class(6 laps) and I was up for the challenge. In the last year, I have made good friendships with the top 35 + guys from last year and I was excited to see if I improved after spending so much time riding with them. The B and C's seemed to have very good turn outs but the A's were down to 5 at the start. My class featured the king of this race, David Benjamin, along with last year's runner up, Mark Ingwersen and always fast Mark Buell. Knowing all of these guys are faster and have more experience than me, my objective was to keep up and finish within a minute. At the start the two Marks took off at a super fast pace. I was in front of Dave and wondering when he would attack. Our second lap slowed and the Marks seemed to be locked together. Dave and I were about 20-30 seconds back and still losing ground, but no by as much as the first. The third and fourth lap saw Dave and me switch places a few times but I still knew he was planning something, but where?  As we made the turn to the last hill climb before the new finish area, Dave surprised me by passing me before we got to the top. I didn't see that coming. I had been handling the new dips before the finish very well so I thought I would catch him there but soon realized that Dave was not going to be passed. As we made our way towards the downhill, I thought only of not losing sight of him. Sure enough, we hit the pavement and he hit a gear I did not have. I wasn't losing strength, though, and still felt strong, just not as strong as him. Once at the top Dave looked back and yelled they are slowing. I got to the top of the hill and could see Mark Ingwersen as he was coming down the last bit before the finish. Mark Buell was still to far for me to even dream of catching, but Dave had a chance. In the end, 5th out of five- that was me but very pleased. I rode with 3 of the 4 fastest people I know and stayed close to the race King for most of it. 5 more to go and lots to learn and improve on. Looking forward to the next 5 Wednesdays.