Training Log Archive: Thompass

Cademuir Rollercoaster - 6th

Was only semi-keen on the hill race but am glad I did it, first one in the bag and I enjoyed it.
Stuck to the back of the pack out of the start. Up the first hill it was the boys in front, me barely included, and then just complete empty space behind me, no noise or nothing. Realized it would not be good for me to get dropped, but that ended up not being a concern.
Picked off two places I think on the way up to the flat before the steep climb, then took out another three to the top of Cademuir, which put me in a very nice 5th position and staring at Maximilian's back.
I was a bit of a wimp on the descent and Max slipped away, and then Dan Stan came flying past me, no chance I keep up there, and near the bottom of the steep descent another guy in a brown shirt I'd passed took back his place. Ah well, sitting pretty in 7th and had another climb of 60m to work some magic.
Coming up the final hill (oof), ended up repassing Brown Shirt and Dan to slip right back into Max's footsteps. Unfortunately it flattened out, followed by a steeper drop where I left the path in favour of the long grass, and Max was off once again. Dan's massive strides came by once again, and I was happy to let him chase down Max.
A few glances back confirmed that I had built a decent gap to Brown Shirt on the climb and just had to keep grinding to do the job. Down another muddy descent and around a bend onto a contouring stretch, and it looked like I still had another 10-15 meters to keep him away. Pushed pace to something that felt fast, around the final corner where a woman was shouting "Go USA", and threw caution to the wind down into the finish so that I didn't regret not pushing hard enough. Pulled away, job done, good fun, would do again.