Shorty # 5

[Greg Alsterlind]

I was going to write just one race report for the entire series but changed my mind after last night. Race # 5 has been consistently one of the least attended races of the Shorty's 6. Last night was no different. The B's had a good group with a lot of familiar faces and a few new. The A's was small. Maybe 6 total? Still- the race was fun and so I thought I would let the five others who raced with me know. Phil Mooney had Ben Cook ( first Shorty) to race with for first few laps. Waily Fung and I made up the 35+ group and had to contend with open A teenagers Wilson Perry , Marc Peterson. I wanted to see how I would feel if I stayed close to Phil for the first lap. It didn't take long for me to drop that game plan and move on to just going hard. Week after week Wilson and Marc seem to be right with me and once again this was the case. Marc ( who beat me last week) had mechanical issues early on and fell back but I was happy to see he didn't give up and finished strong. Wilson caught and passed me somewhere between laps 2-3. With a super constant climbing effort and increasing better down hill times Wilson managed to add a few seconds to his lead every lap until the last. This was where things got fun. I had no desire to beat Wilson to the finish but I did want him to work hard to beat me. As we made our way towards the last short climb before the picnic table the wind was blowing hard. I was maybe 200 yards back but new I could push hard for a few more minutes. By the time Wilson looked back to gauge what he needed to do to beat me , I was with-in 50 feet. As we hit the last short climb one slight mistake and I pass him. As I neared the top, Wilson had done it, all down hill and 3rd. Place was his. This is my 23rd shorty. I started racing here a few years ago and it has added a great deal to my life. I have had more fun racing in this setting than any other. I have made some great friends and have been able to ride along some of the sports best. I hope see a lot more riders next week and continue to see this race provide a fun outlet for those of us who love it.