MLMBC You're either with us or against us: The Seven Pieces of Eight

Race #2 in the Tailwind USAC Series brought our ragged group of misfits to Island Lake, also know to some as the ILRA Proving Grounds because of the speeds that can be carried through this trail. It has a few few fun sections where you should really be paying attention to what you are doing but overall this trail is all about flow and go.

This race brought out everybody....and by everybody I mean everybody. So much everybody that even Captain Terror himself was showing up to race. The world hadn't seen an event like him since 2009. More on him later.

In the morning the first to go was the usual Jon, Aryn and Brian. However, today was also the day Mitch would be tearing off the Motor Club jersey and making his debut with the METAL Crew. Yes now the team is 4 strong in the CAT-1 division and was ready to dance. Unfortunately Mitch had been sick all week and Brian got caught up in a passing scuffle. Although their races were tampered with the both of them came across strong and ground it out to the finish. Brian was able to keep within the top 10 in his Expert 40-49 class out of 33 racers

While Mitch finished just outside the top 10 in the Expert 30-39 class of 24.

Jon and Aryn faired better in the Expert 30-39 class and finished 2nd and 3rd with Jon leading out the class for about 75% of the race.

Jon and Aryn, along with Mitch were in the lead pack with Jon being the Alpha Dog for most of the first lap. Jon and the eventual winner turned some screws and put some space on the rest of the pack at the end of the first lap but Aryn made sure to keep the hammer down and stay in the hunt for the leaders going into lap two. Jockeys were battling for position the entire second lap but when it was all said and done Jon finished less than a minute behind the winner with Aryn coming in a minute behind him.

Debriefing

Jon starring as himself with co-star Mitch as Aryn

As the sun got higher it was time for Ken, Mike and Gerry to shove off. Just like the expert classes, the Sport classes seemed to be packed to the gills as well. As good as this is for the race series, it does make the classes far more competitive than normal.

Mike was first to fire off and did so in fashion with his new Twin Six METAL kit now that he is official. Still working on getting his legs back he focused on having a clean race and making sure he stuck to his training plan. There was no taper for this race as this day was used to pocket some gains for later in the season. Mike kept to his word and managed to avoid and ride around two big crashes that happened in front of him. Although he finished 18th in his Sport 30-39 Class he was very happy with how he did.

Ken and Gerry both raced Sport 40-49 and there class was 27 deep. Ken was proud to show how much he has improved since last season and knocked out a personal best. While he PB only netted him 16th place it was still a step forward in his hunt for a top 10 finish.

And last, to the man none of us thought we'd ever see on the course again, The Captain, Gerry Heath. A few of the guys have a very long history with him and we more excited to see him out there again than their own finishing places (the editor being one of them). No one cared what his time was, where he placed or even that he probably didn't bring his own beer. He was out there pedaling again and now the cycling world is in balance again.....