It was a beautiful day in Morgan Hill, home of the Specialized Bicycles Headquarters! After the team's yesterdays performance (Tyler Brandt winning Mount Hamilton Road Race), he had a strong shot at winning the omnium and to earn a spot at the Nature Valley Professional Stage race next month! The team's plan was to first secure his qualifier and second, to get the win whether it was by breakaway or field sprint.
It was a windy day; head wind on the front straight and a cross-head wind the next straight away. We thought that a breakaway would get away, so wanted to make sure to stay near the front and make sure we don't miss it. There were multiple attacks throughout the race and it strung out the field a lot but it never really broke the field apart completely. Eric Riggs gave me a perfect lead out for a $150 prime at about the halfway point in the race and I felt good in that effort, so I decided to sit in and wait for a field sprint and make sure Tyler would be on my wheel so that he can get to Nature Valley.
It indeed eventually came down to a field sprint and we were lined up about 10 guys back with 1/2 laps to go and I yelled up to Steve "GO!" and he attacked so hard that I had to then tell him slow down, but we quickly adapted and was able to get organized and ramp up the speed again. Tyler came by me and led me out through the last turn and I was able to come around him to take the win! Tyler was able to hang on for 2nd and earned himself a spot to go to Nature Valley and compete against the pros! Big congrats to him and he will definitely represent Team Mike's Bikes strong! Martin Acosta (McGuire) finished 3rd, and Chuck Hutchenson (Marc-Pro Strava) finished in a well-deserved 4th place!
Thank you to all of my teammates throughout the race yesterday as it was a pro/1/2/3 race, so I was able to race with a few of my category 3 teammates which made it pretty cool! They were all so selfless and were all willing to stick their head out in the wind and turn the pain meter up a notch. Couldn't have done it without them! Also, couldn't have done it if it wasn't for any of our sponsors that have come together and helped support this amazing team that has come together as one! Once again, thank you and hope you have enjoyed the reading!
Photo Credit: Dale Tapley
@TMBEquator
