I love Granogue. I LOVE Granogue. I had a huge smile plastered on my face all of Saturday, with the exception of the "oh boy this hurts" look during the race itself.
It is important to start near the front. Not terribly important, mind you, as our very own Mark was able to blast through two rows of Killer B's to take the holeshot, no small feat in such a competitive field. Charlie started more steadily from the 3rd row, while HighlandParkJenks and I had to start waaaay back and got caught behind a half-dozen pileups.
Mark's early efforts were soon replaced by less-than-stellar sensations in his legs, but he hung on admirably for the rest of the race. When HP Jenks stormed by me like I was standing still halfway through the first lap, it served as a convenient wakeup call, and I started moving my way through the field.
Throughout the whole race, we could hear the cheers of our enthusiastic supporters, including AlumniTed, SoigneurHeidi, and C-racers DK and The Kassassin. Every "Go Don" served to boost my power by at least 600 watts, according to my finely-calibrated internal powermeter, and I think I speak for all the B racers when I thank everyone who cheered for us.
The big story of the day, in my book at least, had to be Captain Chaz, who "couldn't pedal powerfully after the runup". Despite this tragic 10sec/lap limitation, Chaz drove his bike to a brilliant top 15 (or so) finish.
All in all, I give the Saturday at Granogue a 17 out of 5. It is my favorite course, the atmosphere is warmer and more inviting than any other similarly-sized race, the weather cooperated, the organizers did a fantastic job, and everyone had a blast. As always, Granogue was more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
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