Dijon Report

I suppose that in short, Dijon was a better race for me.  First, I certainly placed higher.  But more importantly, I was in the mix from start to finish, and didn’t ‘get dropped’.
Getting to the race was fun enough, and I drove one of the cars through Switzerland, across the French border, and into Dijon.  We had a quick lunch, had a bit of time to relax, and make any last minute equipment adjustments, and the race started.  It would be 20 laps of a 2.1km course, with a wide turnaround at either end of a sloping straight-away.  The first half of the race was fast and intense, with relentless attacks and chasing.  I was able to stay in the peleton without much difficulty, taking advantage of the lines that were moving up, and being watchful of the flow of the pack.  Matter, Rollerblade, and Powerslide were the most active in the attacking, and once an attack got away with something of a ‘balanced’ representation, the attack was away, and the bigger teams stopped chasing, leaving the smaller teams to take on the task.  Things then relaxed considerably, and I found the pace rather easy.  Jasper got into a counter attack shortly after that managed to gain some time, and I went to the front to keep the chase disorganized, and keep the attack away, securing what would inevitably become our team’s highest placement. 
            At one point Wayne attempted to bridge up and I again went towards the front to keep the chase down, moving into second, and letting up some when ‘given’ the lead.  Wayne didn’t see it happening, and came back to the peleton, and we discussed how we would set up for the field sprint.  Wayne said; ”just sit behind me” with about 1.5 laps to go, and things began to pick up in anticipation for the sprint.  With about ½ a lap to go, I asked Wayne what he was thinking, and he replied with a “You might as well go for an attack…”  frankly I had to agree with him, as I wouldn’t fare as well in the sprint as I might with an attempt at a break.  So off I went, and I wasn’t exactly conservative about it.  I looked back, and no one was coming with me.  I suppose it was the kind of break that was far enough from the finish that it might come back, but close enough that I could stay away if I was feeling good.  I stayed off the front, and no one came by me by the line, though the field was gaining on me quickly at the finish. 
DJ is sitting beside me as I write this, and already giving me shit about the last few lines of this report… and saying my report sounds like an “exact replica” of Andrew Hegarty’s.  I have to disagree. 
Okay, I have to go pick up Andrea’s sister at the Zurich airport.
Wish me luck in the race tomorrow.  Zurich.
-Aaron