2006 Rage in the Sage

It started out a little chilly but I quickly warmed up trying to hang with Brian while Eric and Jason creped away. At this point I knew it was going to be a battle 'till the end. My first transition was extremely slow. I paid for it on the bike by killing myself just to catch Brian. Eric had the race I did last year being able to catch and hang with Jason on the bike. Every lap I would see Eric get a little closer 'till the second transition when he was right on his ass. GO ERIC! So, by now, there were two races going on in the front: Eric & Jason; and Brian & myself. Eric and Jason were too far gone to see what was happening there. But the race between Brian and me was definitely the focus of my attention. I also finally caught Brian by T2. I started gaining ground on the second run due to technical difficulties in his calf. I was actually feeling good on the run and thought I had 3rd place in the bag. It wasn't 'till 1/2 of the way through the run when Brian started gaining on me. By the last 200 yards he caught me. I drafted for about 50 and started to accept 4th when I know I would beat myself up if I didn't try. So I picked it up and flew by him with 100 yards to go (again, thinking I had 4th in the bag). Little did I know, at the same time Brian was also preparing for a breakaway, so he was ready for me. He passed me by the last 50 yards and just kept going. For the rest of the field, there was quite a gap between them and the top 4. There were a lot of PRs (mine not being one of them), happy finishers and a few mishaps; Jason actually took out a runner on his bike, no one got hurt. It was a good race and a great battle. It's going to be a though season. Eric is lookin' strong. Brian and I have our work cut out for us.