With the race coming just a few days after the very difficult and draining Fontana SERC, you can probably guess that I was a little off. I was not very active during the race, only following one break that didn't go anywhere. The pace was fast and it kept things together. We would have a bunch sprint for third after 2 riders got away in the closing laps. I was sitting in a good spot on the last lap, but was not aggressive enough to hold a good position coming into the sprint. A few of the other riders came by and just took my spot. I didn't really realize what was happening until it was too late. They basically ran me out of the group. They did it in sort of a weird way, almost acting like I had no business being up there anyway. That kind of pissed me off considering I have been up there consistently. I felt that it was a "get out of my way, you can't sprint" move. I had a good sprint left and weaved through the traffic from about 10th to take 4th in the field sprint. That gave me 6th place overall. I wasn't thrilled with the sprint because despite the fatigue, I still had enough left to take that sprint, but my lack of aggression to hold my position cost me the chance to take it. Though I was still happy with 6th on an off-day, and very happy to be going home in one piece with the wedding on the horizon. A 25.4 mph crit. was a good end to my training block...or so I thought. I ended up riding 57 miles with the group in Clarksville the next night, powering a breakaway for most of the way. After that, I got some well-deserved rest.
Photo by Tammy Richardson. She had to capture my last race as a single guy.
Course layout for Race #11
There were some crashes in the early races, including a last-lap crash in the Cat. 4s that caused our start to be delayed. I saw the ambulance get called out at least twice before our race began. I was expecting that last turn to be sketchy during our race as well. We had over 30 riders. Race promoter, Tim Hall, is the cycling coach at Cumberland University. His new recruits were on hand as they had arrived in town with the start of classes just around the corner. Shannon and I both got off work early tonight. Our friend, Pat, also joined us. She had never seen a race before.
New course for Race #14
Pro/1/2/3 group on the start line
Video: Pro/1/2/3 start
With the delayed start, we were told that most likely we would have to shorten our race due to darkness. Nobody had really tested the LP Field parking lot lights. None of us were sure if we going 30 minutes or 40 minutes when we began the race. It was super fast from the beginning. Attacks were going every lap on the small hill. I was towards the back, but just stayed patient. Sitting in the group for a whole crit and then hammering the finish really helps me hit my peak with training. I didn't plan to attack, just wait and see how things developed for a sprint.
Video: Attacks were frequent during the early laps
Nobody really got away the first 20 minutes. Then Travis Werts and John Carr got away and nobody really wanted to chase. Those two are dangerous, so I came to the front to help Andy Reardon. We didn't necessarily want to bring them back right away. That would just provoke further attacks. And we had already had a bunch of attacks when we were rolling over 30 mph. We just wanted to keep the duo close. After a few pulls, Andy noticed that we had a little gap. I guess the group just let us go. We bridged across to Werts and Carr, making a strong 4-man group. Apparantly, the group noticed we were a strong combo and decided they better chase. We lasted a few laps, but they eventually pulled us back into the fold.
Video: Travis Werts and John Carr go off the front
Video: Our break of four gets caught by the group
The break hurt me a little and I had to drop back in the group to recover. The lights came on as darkness fell. They were more than sufficient so the officials let us race the full 40 minutes. It was really cool to finish under the lights. The group stayed together and the bunch sprint was inevitable with 3 laps to go. I was licking my chops at the chance to go for the win. Biker's Choice did a nice leadout the final 2 laps for Tanner Hurst. They set him up perfectly. We almost crashed through the 180 turn coming to one lap to go. That really strung the group out further.
Matt Schupp set a torrid pace the final lap. I was sitting 4th on the backstretch. I was NOT going to get knocked out of my spot this week. The same few riders tried to take my spot, but I held my ground and we exchanged some elbows going into the next turn. Schupp pulled off just before the final turn, giving Tanner the perfect chance to jump away for the win. But he didn't go, and everybody hesitated behind him. I saw the opportunity and exploded out of the group, leading into the last turn with a gap. Only one rider had reacted to my attack. He was one of the young Cumberland University riders and he held more speed through the hairpin than I did. He had a good sprint left too and accelerated faster than me out of the turn. He would beat me, but I held on for 2nd. The two of us had a nice gap over the group behind that had a tight race of 3rd. We ended up with a 26.1 mph average speed for the night.
Pro/1/2/3 podium for Race #14
I was pumped with that effort. Being so close to the win and not getting it sucked, but I knew I was right on track for St. Louis. It was also the first time I have done well when Shannon has come with me. I'm glad she finally got to see me show a little potential. It was also a good result to shut up those people who were talking about how getting married had really caused me to get out-of-shape. I don't think so!
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