Big Sisters are too Cute!

Gracie!

Just bridged.

Working in the break. White Pro gloves of-course.

Danny workin.

Terry workin.

Pigtails melt your heart everytime. Gracie Holdiman is the cutest cheerleader I have ever had at a bike race. Every single time I came around the circuit today, I could hear her little (loud) voice yelling "Go MR JIM!" That little extra motivation was enough for me to bridge to the 4 person break-away with another kid and a tag-a-long junior with about 20 laps to go. I had tried to solo bridge earlier but just didnt have it. I was more determined in the second attempt because I knew the race was up the road with some decent sprinters in the group. Elliot is always talking about Dan Craft of Fat Frogs and other people talk about VB Wheelmen's John Nisbitt. I just learned who these people were in the race. They are medium sized guys and smaller than me. So I was worried about them following me in the last laps.

As expected, both seriously let up in the final laps in prep for the sprint. We were clearly away from the group and no one was really worried about getting caught. But I wasnt about to let them just use my size in the sprint. Turns out, the junior who bridged with jvrs red guy and I took a flyer with about 1K to go. That worked out well for me because I was able to just watch everyone chase him down. So I was sitting in 5th going into the last turn without even ramping up yet. I had the luxery of watching the two sprinters get ready and stand up. So when then did, I just ramped it up a bit while they came up to speed. Right at the time that I was about to go around, a crazy kitty hawk guy drifted about 6 feet left and forced me into the dirt. Awesome! I was thinking to myself and I navigated rockes and mud finally finding my way back to the pavement. I credit my north shore 4 foot drop last weekend for the skill building experience that kept me upright! I joke I joke. Anyway, long story short. I quickly passed scary kitty hawk guy and tracked down Dan. John had enough of a jump that I didnt have enough space to close on him before he crossed the line. 2nd for the 3rd time this year. I just need to get my act together and rid those circumstances where I get caught behind something stupid.

The 1,2,3 race went exceedingly well. Bryan was a crazy man and went pretty much at the gun. No one bridged and he was out there by himself for a while. Gener and I took a turn and when we got caught, Bryan and Keith countered. Nice. Those two are just so strong right now and I was excited to see them work. I dont know exactly how it unfolded, but Keith ended up chasing a flyer down in the last lap and took the victory. Seriously, this guy is older than 90% of the group and can crush anyone. Bryan ended up 5th. Geno easily took the field sprint. I really enjoyed just chasing everything down and sitting on the front trying to block all day. It was a good racing day for LeBleu.

Kblog, sorry to hear about your loss pal. I hope that everything is ok with ya pal. Long rides help me sort everything out.

And for those of you who have no idea what LeBleu is, I present the following: