When NCNCA summer races are not in the The Bay, it’s usually HOT. Vacaville Grand Prix did not let us down with temperatures in the 90s, this made cooling ourselves down throughout the race a challenge. A further challenge was to maintain/grow our slim margin over Marc-Pro Strava in the Premier Series team classification. With this weekend’s races being the last events of the series our plan was simple: finish with as many TMBs in the top 12 as possible. Our best bet for that is a field sprint.
As usual, the race started fast but quickly riders were succumbing to the heat and were falling off the back one by one. Halfway through the race, there were a couple large groups that briefly stayed away but with so many riders in the groups they weren't organized and were caught. In the last 20 minutes of the bike race, Justin Rossi (MPS and best overall amateur at Redlands Bicycle Classic) got a decent gap on the pack. This is exactly what we did not want, a win by him could put MPS ahead of us in the Premier Series team classification. Before his gap got too large, the Team Mike's Bikes train came to the front to reel him back in. After a few laps of chasing, we caught Justin only to have Dave Grundman (Team BP/Sierra Nevada/Reliable) attack and get a decent gap. The TMB train again went to the front for several laps to bring him back, only to again be attacked by Justin!
This time TMB gave him no space, and his move didn’t stick. Inside of one lap to go, Max Jenkins (MPS) put in a strong attack but it was carefully marked by other riders, which in turn shuffled the TMB train. For the last half a lap it came down to just Dana Williams and I. Coming into the final corner (350 meters) I was sitting 5th wheel just behind Dana but unfortunately a couple riders got 20 meters. Knowing full well those in front were going 100%, I waited until the right moment: 250 meters. I timed it right to win!
Dana was able to hang onto 6th place and Colin Daw was able to take 10th, making it 3 TMB in the top 12 compared to only 1 MPS rider. This is exactly what we needed for the premier series team classification. It was amazing to have the entire team on the front putting in massive efforts not only for myself but for the team classification. I would like to thank all of our sponsors for supporting the team and letting us show off what amazing products you have!
-James
