Reading Liam’s report a few weeks ago about the pain train (or something like that), I told myself, I want in on some of that. So on the hottest day of the year, I decide to take a stab (dumb, but fun). It was one hot one out there today, did not need much of a warm up. The pace seemed a little slow off the start, I think a lot of us were worried how the weather was going to effect this one.
The first ten minutes were moderately paced until one MS rider went off the front. I had a delayed reaction but chased him to see if the pack would respond. Went I looked back Ryan Fay was right on my wheel mentioning that we had a gap and that if we could catch the guy up front we could get something going. He pulled out front and I quickly realized that I did not have what it took to keep up. I fell off quick and shamefully returned to the pack. Since Ryan was still out there I picked up speed so that the pack would not zoom past. As they approached one MS rider passed by and I slipped in behind him. (Perfect opportunity to block) I pulled up next to him without a sound and we sat there at the front for a half a lap before someone blurted out, “Their blocking for their men upfront” we then looked at each other smiled and he said “ so how’s your season going?” Reply: “fine and yours”, “good” (Some small chit-chat) Ok, race on. Then the group got a little antsy and picked up the pace. I think both Ryan and other MS guy stayed out there for a good 4 laps or so which left a good opportunity for another break later in the race.
A few laps later, I noticed that on the back stretch after we got out of the wind the pack would slow briefly, so next lap I hit it hard at that same location. I figured this time “I will go out there for a few laps and see what happens”. Little did I know that I would be out there for the rest of the race. I had a small gap for a good two laps when I thought, “man I am pretty toasted, lets return to the pack, good effort.” I look back and see another two riders (MS and ABD) behind bridging up saying, “we got a gap let’s get something going.” At this point I thought, “man I am going to totally puke”, but I stay with them. I got to say that the communication was paramount. There were a few times that we broke it up a bit during a points lap but all in all, we had four strong riders committed and on the same page taking turns. We were out there for about 20-30 minutes. The first ten we had a relatively small gap. But we were able to build on it the next ten. The reason that happened I found out later from Scott Kineopee from Bicycle Heaven who mentioned that our team had done a great job blocking with some other MS riders. I owe them a great deal of gratitude for that. This race was theirs as much as it was mine. Thanks boys. (John, Ryan, Patrick, Dave, Stocky, Jared, etc. ect.)
The final lap was interesting seeing that no one wanted to take a pull. Everyone playing these ninja-like mind games with each other. Is he going to go? Ahhh, no. Ahhh, no again. The two ABD riders had the advantage but the MS rider cleverly avoided the pull through to save some for the end. Luckily I was at the back of the four conserving my energy while all this excitement was happening. I made a move 50 meters before turn 4. I did not want go into that acute turn behind, plus I had a nice clean line carrying a bunch of speed into the final stretch. Clearing that turn, I hit it, which I think worked to my advantage. There were 300 meters to go and I think the others were not expecting to start the sprint that early. I dug as deep as I could and ended in a solid No. 2.
Had I known how much pain I was going to endure would I have done it all over again? Oh Yesssss, the glory outweighs the pain. I wanted to puke and give up several times but it pays to hang on a little longer. Dig a little deeper. Thanks to all the organizers for putting on such a great race. And the sprint points added a level of complexity to the race. And outstanding thanks to all my teammates who made this all happen. Couldn’t have done it without ya.