Granite Bay- NorCal #2 Dean Lyons

[Dean Lyons]

The first lap started at a brisk pace, and I pushed my way into the top ten. I stayed in a pack of about 15 guys for the rest of the lap, and the pace settled in.

 

When we hit the flowy roller section on the second lap, Topher Lewis broke away from the pack, and easily put almost a minute into the main group. By the time we hit the rocky half of the course, all that was left of the big group was me, Clayton Puckett, Tate Meintjes, Nathan Barton, Jake Yackle and Cole Davis. Our group came to the end of the second lap, and due to a mishap in the sand pit, we got split apart.

 

Cole, Nathan and Tate chased after Topher, while Clayton, Jake and I chased them. Nathan and Cole dropped Tate, and my group caught him on the steep rutted climb after the pavement crossing. At the end of the third lap, my group was in the fight for 4th place. Two of us wouldn’t be on the podium.

 

Clayton led the first part of the 4th lap, and took a relatively relaxed pace. I was afraid of racers behind us catching up, so I took the lead. I led our pack for about ten minutes, but on the last switchback climb, Clayton attacked. I didn’t have much in the tank, and when Clayton attacked, he got a sizeable gap on me. I did all I could to stay with him, but I couldn’t. Right after that Tate attacked, and Jake fell off the map. Tate got a few seconds on me, and held it to the finish. I ended up sixth place.

 

... Or so I thought. Apparently, Cole Davis (who had finished second) took an inhaler at the feed zone and was disqualified. I was stoked to end up in the top five at my first race this season!

 

Dean