In the photo: Mathias Jacquelin
Written by Mathias.
Team Mike's Bikes Dev made a good showing at RKO#1 The Bump: a total of 6 Cat 5 riders were present: Gustavo, Jeff, Jon, Oscar, Will, and myself. This allowed us to practice some team tactics. Our plan was to control the race as much as possible before attacking during the second half of the final lap.
The first two laps were pretty much done at a coffee ride pace, and we all were able to stay comfortably in the pack. The goal was to avoid working too much while staying close enough to the front so we could bridge any break away. During lap two, two riders tried to escape but we were able to close the gap. After that chase, I decided to rest a little bit to prepare for the last lap.
During the last lap, TMB Dev took things in charge while I stayed protected as much as possible. Then came the last climb. Oscar and I were leading the pack at a good pace, when a rider tried to escape quite early on. We chased him, and rolled behind him for a little while when I decided that I was close enough from the finish line to attack.
And attack I did, creating a good gap between me and the rest of the peloton. I did attack a bit too early as I was running out of gas slightly before the end of the last steep section before the final Bump. That's when I saw a red rocket passing me with another rider in his wheels. I tried to accelerate but my response was too slow and we were too close from the finish line at this point, but manage to finish 3rd.
Altogether, this was a super fun race and I am really happy to have wonderful teammates. It's going to be an exciting season for sure !
