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Louisiana/Mississippi State Championship Road Race September 6-7, 2003 Benton, Louisiana |
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| Dear Racers,
Not so much of a race report... rather than a "thank you". Thanks to my team for leaving me out there, up the road to bake... alone. For 20 KM. Thanks to Alan Moore for having all the worst hills in those last 20KM. Thanks to Frank and Chris Alexander for repeatedly telling me over the radio that I just had just 2 miles to go when is was actually much much further. Liars. Thanks to all the people and shit going on in my life that has allowed me only 10 days on my bike in the last month and a half. That made those 82+ miles quite comfortable. Thanks to all the gremlins, flats and tough competition that were ever present during my previous 15 attempts to win the state title. Thanks to all the other racers who raced on Sunday and took for granted that no solo break with Kenny ever succeeds. I was starting to think the same thing. :-) It was actually quite a race. Gary Z took off in the first mile or 2. Stayed away, mostly alone for 65 miles. He had at some points more than 3 minutes on the ever attacking pack. Long time to be alone. Several counter attacks went when he was finally pulled back in. I think it was more like Gary just sitting up than us actually gaining ground on an angry G-unit. Anyway, I could tell that most in the pack were tiring, including myself. This was only my 3rd time of the year riding more than 65 miles. However, I was feeling pretty strong on the hills. That's where I went off, thinking I'd be back in time to see Troy or Tim take off for the final miles. The gap kept shrinking and growing... by design. I would take it easy heading up to a hill, then push it really hard, up and over and somewhat attack on the down hills. I guess it worked. But I was hurting more than I ever have. I have never won the state RR, nor any RR off the front solo. I work better in groups. The last mile felt like my fastest, since I could see the finish line from about 2 miles away. I pushed it as hard as I ever have. Legs were cramping and stinging, and I was out of water. I finished with about 30 seconds between me and the sprint. Great feeling to do so well against so many riders who, this year, seem to be faster than ever. Thanks again to everyone that pushed me. This was a great SMOOTH course. Challenging, fair to all, at times confusing and a lot of fun. Thanks! Never give up, Kenny | |||
