Salida Road Race

I looked at the clock on my bike computer, and it said 5:58.- There were 11 minutes to my start, so I rolled over to the start/finish line, and there were all the juniors, standing in a large group, waiting for the officials to line us up.- We were directed to the start, and after what seemed like forever, we started.- The officials had told us 1 lap, instead of the 2 the flyer had said.- We formed a pace line with an Amicas- kid at the front.- He was there all the way to the feed station, where another kid attacked, and I thought that we could catch back up if we could have a high tempo.- We turned the right hand corner that would take us up the hill.- We rode hard to the left hand corner that meant we were heading into the neighborhood.- I looked back and saw that there was an Alpha kid, Birgit Morris of Two Rivers, the Amicas- kid, and myself.- I was happy but amazed at the reduction of the field.- We were still chasing when we got to the first stair step.- He had a 7 or 8 second gap when we were past the steep section.- It flattened out for a while, but there was still a small grade.- The Amicas- kid was still on the front, powering away.- There were two small downhills, but they were short and were meaningless except for catching your breath.- Then there was a left turn that led you even farther up the mountain.- There was a 30-45 second uphill, and I attacked on it.- I had a 5 second gap going into the gravel, so I was good.- The Amicas- kid bridged up to me on the descent, but that was fine.- It was a breakneck descent, and I was using my 53-11. (DISCLAIMER-I have 650 wheels).- We had a small gap on the Alpha kid, but he probably could close it.- When we got to the bottom, the Amicas- kid had caught us.- We worked together on the flat, twisty part before the finish.- On the last 90 degree corner, the Amicas- kid went into it with way too much speed, and he skidded and went all the way across the road.- Then the two of us finished in a sprint, and the Alpha kid won it, but I didn-t care, I got third.