UCI Sand and Surf at the REZ

Last Sunday was the third race in the Boulder Cyclocross series and was held at the Boulder Rez. I had a great start and was able to move up to second wheel before the first turn at the west end of the course. I sat in and drafted off the guy in front of me and we started to establish a small gap on the field. After the sand run-up and down by the lake, the guy in front of me wasn't able to ride through the sand and had to get off his bike and run. I rode through and and started to open a gap that grew quickly. This was my first time off the front and it was a strange feeling. I had a lot of thoughts running through my head -- i.e. what should I do -- hammer it, sit up, ride tempo, etc. I kept looking over my shoulder and by the end of the second lap I had established an est. 15 second gap and decided that I was going to have to try to win it wire to wire. A group of three chase riders formed behind and started reeling me in over the course of the third lap and caught me just before the start finish area. When they caught me I tried to jump in, but couldn't as I had burned too many matches trying to stay away. I was feeling the pain and focused on riding as hard as I could for the balance of the race and was eventually caught and passed by two other riders, leaving me in 6th place.