![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.brickhouseracing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/shake.jpg\" "\\"shake\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nRace #1 was against the women and cat 4 men. There were 3 other women and a handful of guys. First place was $200 (woohoo!), and I was planning on doubling up and jumping into the men’s open race just after the women’s, so my strategy going in was similar to McEwen- race hard enough to win the women’s race, and leave the guys alone. It started out like that, but within a couple of laps, I was gaining ground on the leader of the cat 4 race. I eventually passed him, and, of course, he chased, so I had to bust ass to stay away. Winning. Wait… Winning? Shit.<\/p>\n
I tried my best to cool down a little without getting totally relaxed. I grabbed a gel and some water and kept rolling around until people started to line up.<\/p>\n
Race #2: The payout was 10 deep, and 12 of us lined up. The goal was twofold- get money, and fu… uh… race hard. The start was great- I jumped into the course ahead of a couple of the slowest racers but behind the guys that I wasn’t sure of whether or not I’d pass. In the next few laps, I chased several of them down. For a while, I was alone between the 5 leaders and the ones behind me. I realized that I was pulling Larry Yancey (Mr. Honeybadger<\/a> himself) back. It took a minute, but I eventually passed him in the box of turns just after the first barrier. The last three laps was hell. I felt every pedal stoke from the first race, but managed to hold off all of the guys that I’d passed and finish in 5th place.<\/p>\n