Quote from MrOverdressed on Sep 13th, 2008, 10:19pm:
Off we go. Emperor Ray was about 100 yards in of me. There was too much traffic for me to do a bust-out-sprint and catch up with him. He was gone.
Decent write-up Terry. Yes, the Apache hilicopter circling around us at the start was so awesome. The wake turbulence was hard to ride through though.
I started near the front, probably 50-75 people in front of me. After the first half a mile, which was twisty turns getting out of the stadium, and weaving through some slower riders, I saw the "A" pack already 1/4 mile ahead. This was comprised of the Moritz, Volkswagen, Tzing, and other pro 1/2 teams. As Terry said "he was gone". I worked hard up a false flat to catch them, then recovered at the rear.
At about mile 2 there was a slight down hill. I moved to the outside and pushed hard to get to the front. They apparently weren't "bent" friendly as I said "mornin" to the lead rider(s). I excellerated off the front from about 24 mph to about 27 mph. Nobody was interested in chasing me. Here I was, the lead rider. I kept looking in my mirror and nobody chased.
I held that lead until I glanced at a sign the said "rest stop one mile". I pushed hard, wanting to keep the top spot through the first rest stop.
That's when "wrong way Ray" stepped up. Apparently there was a turn where the rest stop sign was, and I kept going straight. I didn't realize it until I got to a red light, and there was no traffic control. They didn't give maps, but knowning the area, I thought I could short-cut and find the pack. I had a few bonus miles, and while never catching the pack again, I did extremely well. It rained quite hard at times, and the wind swirled; not good when riding my Renn disk.