In the photo: Travis Mceuen
Written by Travis
After yesterday’s mild temperatures in Monterey is was back to the smoldering heat in Rohnert Park for the Colavita Grand Prix.
This was also a new race for me and my first 2/3 race (they did place us separately). Today we did not have the numbers on our side. The field started with about 40 guys with almost equal amount of 2’s and 3’s. Representing TMBDEV was me, Peter and Taylor. My plan was to race aggressively early on and if it stayed all together I wanted to try and help out Peter for the sprint. Low was the most represented team with around 6 guys so I had my eyes on them.
From the whistle the race was fast. Lots of turns on this course, with a small hill into a headwind. There were a ton of attacks and I tried to chase/get into any break I could, this may not have been the smartest plan on my part but oh well. There were plenty of crashes today and unfortunately Taylor got caught behind one and they wouldn’t give him a free lap!
My aggressive racing almost paid off as I got into a break with another rider. We managed to stay away and form a decent gap. For some reason the pack let Peter get to the front and he did a great job at disrupting any chase and allowed us to stretch our gap. Unfortunately, the pack didn’t want us to stay away and with 6 laps to go, we were caught. I was spit out the back and spent about half a lap chasing. Luckily a Low rider and an Amain rider attacked and Low sat at the front slowing down the field and I was able to catch back on (I thought it was game over).
It was pretty mellow for the next few laps but I made sure to keep in position and also keep my nose out of the wind, already did plenty of that earlier. With 2 to go Peter came to the front and took a massive dig and strung out the field, I was a little confused cause I thought he was going to save himself for the sprint but I think the heat was getting to him and he wanted to try and keep it fast for the final lap. The last lap was basically Low organizing their lead out train (there was no bringing back the break) so the 2’s were racing for 3rd but 1st was still open for the 3’s. On the back stretch, a Davis kid made an awkward move ( I don’t think he wanted to attack but he did) and I was right there with him.
He sat up 50m before the final corner and I didn’t want to lead out the pack so I eased off and let Low take the reins. I was scanning to see who was a 2 and who was a 3. There were about 5 of us and only one of them was a 3. I messed up and eased off just a bit too much hoping to hop on the other 3’s wheel for the sprint and he ended up catching me at the line. I would have finished 6th overall but since they placed us separate I was 2nd for the 3’s. Super happy with my result considering I this was my first 2/3 race and I got into a break and still and legs for the finish. I wish I could have lead Peter out though!
As always thanks to all our sponsors: Mikes Bikes, Equator Coffee, Toyota cycling, GU, Specialized, Achieve Coaching, and Capo
