The first thing that I have to say about that race was excellent job by the promoters and what an awesome course. Myself, Mike Tamayo, John Gray and Tim Shockley loaded up in the Highlander and made the trip. This was actually our teams biggest showing of the year which meant we were going to be expected to do some work, rightfully so.
As we made it to the course, Mike, Tim and I realized we had all raced there before. Not the exact course, but in the area there used to be a Junior Race Weekend there. I missed my prom to race there back in 1994.
So the look of the course was a little intimidating. It looked like a tough course with a lot of hard efforts throughout. That really was not the case. Early on a few breaks of two riders got away. I bridged and caught all of them. I was not ready to be in a break for that long so my primary goal of bridging was to bring them back and that occurred each time. At one point a larger group got away that had me nervous. I chased them as well and with a solid effort by Lucas, we caught them.
With three laps to go a break of two riders were away. Far enough away that we actually lost sight of them. So on my favorite part of the course, the long stretch following the u-turn, I attacked. I bridged up to them by the time we hit the first right turn. I was solo, but unfortunately I think they had already decided to give up because they just set up. In hindsight I should have had a go for it by myself but decided a group sprint was not that bad.
With two laps to go, someone pushed Kyle Knot into my rear wheel. I suddenly heard a loud crash and broken spokes. Luckily for me they were not mine and neither one of us went down. It did, however, bend my skewer. I don't know how it didn't mess up the wheel, derailleur or dropout.
On the final lap, Lucas made a move early and took off. I really, once again hindsight, should have gone with him. That section following the u-turn was fast and I rode it well. I stayed in the pack though. In the u-turn, many riders clipped their pedals and it forced me back a couple of positions. During the sprint the pack stayed together spread across the road. I had nowhere to go. I ended up near the back of the pack with a lot of legs left over.
Once again I am pissed at my result. It is no longer satisfying for me to simply ride well during the race. I want results. I don't care if they are personal results or team results. With out the results, the effort during the race is useless, I could put forth the same effort on training races. Since I don't really have the guts it takes to sprint in the pack, look for me to start working on my breakaways. That is where I think I could win some races.
Mike and Tim had not raced at all this year. They both stayed in well and finished well. John raced well also staying at the front and putting in some chasing efforts. Overall it was a satisfying race as a team, I just know I could do better.
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