Written by Marco Lei.
For some, the Labor Day weekend marks the end of the racing season. I’ve planned my training to peak in August and I’m in pretty good shape going into these races. I scheduled 4 races for this weekend (2 races at RKO and 2 races at the SF Giro – see the next race report for SF Giro).
The first race of the day is an E4/5, and I wanted to use this race to experiment a few end of race scenarios, and be able to execute what works in the E4 race later in the day. Unfortunately, it’s a long weekend and my fellow teammates were out of town. As I’m going into to this race solo, the first thing in my mind is to identify the threats and see how I could maximize their workload to bring me to the finish line with fresh legs.
Race started on time on a typical sunny warm Pleasanton morning. We had 10 racers in the field. A 2-man break started at about 10 minutes into the race and I hesitated for a couple of seconds and missed the opportunity to join the breakaway. For the next 20 minutes, we tried to bridge up to the front but couldn’t form an organized chase. With the 2-men break opening up a big gap on us, I have to start conserving my energy to race for 3rd place (the last podium spot for upgrade points). For the last 10 minutes of the race, there were a few random attacks and I was being extremely patient to not take any baits. Going into the bell lap, I positioned myself 2nd to 3rd wheel leading up the final corner. As soon as we clear the final corner, I was in a perfect position to unleash my sprint at around 250 meters and held it to the finish line.
Overall, a great start to begin the race-filled weekend.
