DATE - March 9, 2014

AUTHOR - Dana Williams

TEAMMATES - Chris R, Walton B & Travis L

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Wide open flat four corner (although 'corner 1' is more of a sweeper right then 90 degrees), good pavement, with some afternoon wind

GOALS/PLAN

Get the win. Make sure we had at least one rider in any promising breaks. If it came down to a field sprint then I was the sprinter and lead out by Chris and Walton. Travis would act as a sweeper if he was feeling good by then as it was his second race of the day.

RACE SUMMARY

The first lap was pretty tame. In fact, I went to the front and picked up the pace just to get things rolling. But it wasn't too far into lap two that attacks and field accelerations ensued. This went on for a while with nobody really getting more than five seconds on the field. All four of us were working well to be in any breaks or bringing back anything we missed. The first real break I believe happened around 15 minutes into the race. Two riders got away and began working well together. I know one rider was David Grundman of Sierra Nevada and I think the other was a MarcPro rider. They built up an approximate 15 second gap and did a great job of maintaining that for what seemed to be 10-15 minutes. There were a number of attacks out of the field to try and bridge up. I ended up in a solo break and tried to get as aero as possible to get make up the gap closer. But the field wasn't giving me much space and I was absorbs soon after. Chris and Walton went to the front and put in some strong efforts to bring the two riders closer. Soon enough the break was caught. Then the counter attacks started. At about 15 minutes to go, Walton and I found ourselves in a 6 or 7 man break that was rolling pretty well. But then guys started sitting on and this allowed two or three more guys to bridge up. There was no cohesive effort and soon the field had bridged up, thanks in large part to Thirsty Bear, who didn't have anybody in the break. 

With a lap and a half to go, Walton, Chris and I hit the front. Walton and Chris rotated well and everybody was content to sit behind us. Walton pulled off just before turn three and Chris took over. I could see riders swelling behind us. I yelled to Chris to 'Hit it' and he accelerated. I was feeling good as we passed the half way point between turn three and four so I decided I'd try to catch the guys behind me off guard by launching early. I jumped out of the saddle and went hard. I looked ahead and the last corner wasn't as close as I had hoped. I had to sit down and keep pushing. I could tell guys were right on my tail. I drifted wide on the exit of final turn to try and keep my speed. Chuck of MarcPro cut it tighter and accelerated first. We were in a head to head drag race to the line, when at about 20 meters to go, Matt C of MarcPro darted by us on the outside and got the win. Chuck just nipped me for second and I held onto third. 

RESULTS
3. Dana Williams
24. Travis Lyons
32. Walton Brush
37. Chris Riekert