So...I rode leland with owen on recon a week before the race. Conditions....70 degrees with probably 18mph winds sunny. Not too bad i thought to myself even though the winds were strong.

I show up on race day, conditions.....45 degrees probably gusts of up to 25mph winds. suck!!!

I wasn't entirely sure what i could pull off in this race but i knew there was a frame up for grabs so i was going for it!!

waiting to start it was really cold, i tried to keep moving to stop my body from shivering uncontrollably. I couldn't stop it so i tried talking to some fellow teammates while we waited. This managed to temporarily take my mind away from the fact that i was freakin cold!

Things started pretty steady..me and jacques rode together just behind the front to keep an eye on any early breaks as i was guessing this fierce crosswind was going to wreak havoc....i wasn't disappointed. My hopes were to start an echelon early and push the pace a little to get rid of the back of the pack, however with the narrowness of the roads it was hard to get any good echelon going as the center line rule was in effect. there goes plan A.

Plan B. try stay near the front and get on the front for the gravel (i didn't want any wheels in front of me in risk that they might go down.) then sit back again when we hit the asphalt, do this until the last lap and then think about an attack.

Well this plan was going nicely until that stupid little urge inside me decided to start pulling on the front of the group far tooo early. Here my race inexperience came into full bloom. I finally realized what i was doing and tried to merge back into the pack out of the wind.

Just before the first gravel section i got into second place feeling pretty good about that and then it began. I took the right line knowing this worked in recon. I thought to myself just stay behind this guy and you will be fine. it wasn;t to be. one by one riders started moving up attacking from all angles. What the heck? already are you serious? turns out they were. i tried to hit the pedals hard and stay with a group of about 10 riders who passed me but i couldn't keep up. my legs were giving in on me already. why? darn you legs. we've barely even started the race... what's going on? my legs chose not to answer those questions they just continued to burn in agony!!

plan c. salvage what i could and try and recover my legs from their annoyingly early downfall. then fight back as best i could.

i am guessing by the end of the gravel into the wind i was sitting middle pack but i was completely isolated. guys behind me...guys in front. i had no idea what position i was in. anyway i got into a rhythm and slowly but surely the heart rate went down and the legs began to gain some life. I decided to start pushing hard while i had the wind behind me. i managed to catch a small group and rode with them for a while.

for the next lap and a half it was a blur of working with guys, things falling apart and then finding other guys and blah blah blah. but then....third and final lap the gravel sections start..there's a group of maybe 8 of us. i am driving the pace with one other guy, we take turns on the front. this continues until he drops off... i guess he was tired of the others not doing anything. I reluctantly came through and continued to pull and much to my disbelief a small gap had emerged. I thought...they will be back on my wheel in a minute don;t worry about it. but it wasn't to be. the gap got bigger...huh. this is the moment when i began to think of all those times people say races have luck involved and breaks are no exception to that.

so i turned up the pace a little just to test them to see if they really were dropping off...turns out they were. the gap got bigger, substantial now to where we were approaching the end of the gravel going north. i said to myself...this is it i am hitting it hard. i hit the asphalt and i layed the smackdown, out of the saddle 100%, no looking back just go. low and behold it worked, i got rid of the group of 8 and decided to bolt it from here to the finish cancellara style (haha i wish).

well i did my own cat 5 version of cancellara and rode tt pace for the rest of the course in fear that the group would catch me back. they didn't, and it turns out i caught another 4 riders and passed them on my way to the finish. My lungs were burning, legs cramping, but i fought the mental battle and managed to push quite an impressive pace (for me) all the way to the finish line. the result 23rd.

not bad. there was no way i was going to catch the front group back after they left me so promptly in the early stages of the race, but i still had some xxx pride and did the best i could with the situation i found myself in. There was definitely no DNF for me...forget that. i was here to race and finish this bloody thing is what i did. There's a lot to learn in this game of bike racing but i am enjoying the journey.