More Tales from Sunday's Stampede RR

Just to add to the dittys penned by Trev and Dan, Sunday was great! Nice work to all Speed Theorists and supporting casts...
As for the A race, a few of us had been plotting what to do and when (thinking that we would be able to control the race like the Elite guys did so admirably), however, the wheels of any plan we had well and truly fell off as the main bunch rolled past the feed zone on the second lap and a couple of fast looking Bici lads made a jump with two Synergy guys quickly bridging the gap to make for a breakaway! Not wanting a good group to get away without Speed Theory flying the flag in there I leapt off to catch them up. Six of us worked together pretty well and maintained a good gap on the rest of the riders. Things began to spice up a little on lap four with a couple of riders testing the water and turning the screws a little. By lap five the six men became four. I wasn't keen on a sprint finish so tried to drop the other guys twice on two separate climbs on the backside of the course - alas, it was futile as there was no fooling them of my intentions. Looked like we were going to duke it out to the bitter end. The final few km saw the tempo up a little, the four men became three, one of whom (not I) tried one last desperate attempt at glory and shot off with about 2km to go. The remaining Bici lad and I got back onto his wheel, and the sprint was now on as we all battled for position. There had been reminders called from the side of the road earlier on that it was an uphill finish so be wary! I attempted to bide my time, but with momentum and excitement on my side I began to roll beyond the two other guys and had to jump start my sprint way out!!!! Neglecting to realize that not all Brits sprint like Cavendish (especially not the skinny stick men like me) I thought I had it easily, but those last fifty metres seemed like miles to the old legs and I imagined that Bici lad was coming up quick. The wobbly legs just managed to squeak me over the line in first (phew) and so a good outing for ST in the race!
Obviously the elite fellers did an incredible job too, and it's always just great fun to be riding around a nice course with a bunch of team mates.
On a final note, here's the musings of Scott Martin about why cycling is what it is and why we do it.....

"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trail head, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain,there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tidily-Winks."