The Swami's DET rolled into Dana Point down a few of our regular riders (Alex and Rob were off at Collegiate Conference Championships in Davis), but with the added reinforcements of Joel, Pascal, and secret weapon Orion Berryman. In addition to our added firepower we had Corey, Jason, and myself representing as well. Daggs 'wired us up' before the race, pro style (race radios). Every time we came around the squad received status updates of breakaways forming, and relative position of all our riders in the field.
We had a field of 60-70 racers, Cat 2 only, on the fast and technical course in Dana Point. Very similar to the course of last year, with a slightly wider "back stretch" for added "safety". Still technical, still plenty of opportunites for sketchy guys to make dangerous moves.
Our race was shortened from 60mins to 55, and after brief race instructions from the announcer and head offical, we were off. The Cat 2 Swamis did a good job of starting near the front and all our guys were active from the start. Category 2's racing is known for very irratic pacing. Attacks, lulls, more attacks, more lulls, a crash, an attack...etc. Minus a few scary guys, this race was surprisingly safe. Nearly every move had a Swami covering it, and we all maintained great position throughout the race. Pascal covered no less than 15 moves on his own. That guy is a machine!
Towards the end, Corey attacked and got off the front, only to be reeled in. Immediatly Orion counter attacked, and spent a few laps off the front. He was brought back with about 5 laps to go, setting up for a sprint finish. I made a point to find Joel in the scrum, as we were supposed to link up for the leadout in the finale. By Magic/Miracle/Sheer Luck we linked up, and I followed Joel's wheel throughout the final laps. When I got antsy and started trying to get in front of Joel he would caution me to hang back and stay on his wheel.
Finally, with 1 lap to go, Joel surged with me still on his wheel from about 10th position. We came up the little rise and Joel dropped me off on the outside of 3 turns to go in 3rd wheel. I punched it from there, and 2 guys attacked on the inside as I came over the top. I got on them and then moved inside to come out of 2 turns to go in 2nd position. From there the guy leading accelerated down the back straight and about halfway down the back straight I made my move around the last guy in front of me. I did the whole sprint/acceleration in the saddle, as I was worried standing up to sprint would cause me to lose a tiny bit of momentum. I came into the last turn super hot, leaned the bike and pedaled through the final turn, barely scraping my pedal. From there it was just about holding onto the lead. Somebody told me I crossed the line with about 5 bike lengths on 2nd place.
Great race! Awesome teamwork by the entire expanded squad. Huge thanks to Pascal, Orion, Jason and Corey for the hard work/awesome attacks. Props to Joel for dropping me off in perfect position. Well done team!
Zack Simkover
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Great job guys! It was great seeing all the Swami's out there.
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