words: Travis Lyons

This morning, I woke up early to get in a short spin on my Venge ViAS. I had a little trouble yesterday with the front derailleur after installing my powermeter, and the guys at MB Walnut Creek, Nico and Rob, got it dialed in a jiffy. This morning’s ride was mostly just to make sure the power read right, and to get the legs loose before driving up to Folsom in the afternoon.

Adam Switters, my only teammate for the day, arrived at the race shortly before Sean and me. Adam and I planned to trade off covering moves in the early part of the race, and to execute the same winning plan Adam made with Garrett a year earlier.

As the peloton, 42 riders strong, made its way around the semi-rectangular course, attacks from Herbalife24, CoreTechs, SquadraSF, and Max Jenkins (Astellas) kept everyone on their toes. Numerous small breaks of six or seven riders got up the road, but with no more than fifteen seconds at most on the bunch. Adam and I both made great use of our Evade aero helmets and the Venge ViAS’ aerodynamic prowess, which easily floated us up from the field to the breakaways.

Going into the final lap, Herbalife24 picked up the pace, still with 4 riders on the front. Adam and I held the inside line around the backside of the course. Bryan Larsen (Echelon-Storck) made his signature move with 400m to go, flying around the outside of the long right curve, causing Herbalife24 to jump to close down his advantage. There was a brief hesitation, and Adam accelerated up the inside with me on his wheel as we approached the last corner. I sprinted past Adam and kept Willy Myers (Herbalife24) on the long route around me to the line. Randy Bramblett (CoreTechs) rounded out the podium for third, and my carpool Sean (Dolce Vita) finished fifth!

I’m really happy to have gotten the first win for the team this year!