GPS stats: http://app.strava.com/activities/1030512
I arrived a little early for tonight's race, and Shannon about 10 minutes after. One thing I'm glad about is that getting ready is not part of the race. Shannon always ends up waiting for me to warm up, and tonight was not an exception. I REALLY need to get better organized. We did manage to get some warm up laps but wondered if anyone else was going to come out and watch and/or join us. Thankfully, Vince did show up and got a warm-up lap on his own, and Todd and Pam came out to cheer us on.
This race was yet just another one where strategy was a bigger factor in how it played out than actual ability. I STILL believe we have what it takes to do better (this was proven with Shannon's and Adrian's podium finishes), but we were just out maneuvered tonight. Although you want to be upset with how Team Velosport plays, you have to respect the fact that they're pretty organized. They also have the numbers to be able to implement their strategies, so hopefully we can do better when more show up. It's cool that Todd's now excited and can't wait to give it a try. Next week should be good!
For this race, Velosport launched an attack right after the first prime and pretty much caught us all off guard. I gave the this prime a shot and fell short based on my position going into the last turn (I had to come around one guy who I think I crapped his pants as I went by not expecting someone to sprint from where I was at). By the time I crossed the finish, the Velosport guys blew by just as I was trying to recover. The crosswinds made the sprint a little more tiring, but I gave it a shot and tried t jump on. When we hit the first corner though, the guy in front of me popped creating a gap and I was in no state to try and close the gap. Vince took off from behind me and got in a chase group, but they never got too organized where the chase group I was in was able to reel them back in.
I was under the impression that the numbers we had would be able to reel the breakaway group at some point, but two things prevented it: not enough people willing to bridge the gap and other Velosport members defending. Again, give it up for Velosport in being able to apply their tactics effectively.
Vince and I would work opposite sides of the track, but it was just not enough. I did wonder why Shannon wasn't more of a factor during this time, but it was only after the race that I found out he had gotten a flat on the 2nd lap. It's funny though that Todd yelled out at one point to get up front and help Vince more. I took two long pulls on the opposite side, and the blocking probably was the cause of this more than anything else.
I did see the sign for the final 2 laps and also heard the bell this time for the final lap unlike last week (ha ha). On the 2nd to the last lap toward the bottom of the track, I saw Shannon off the front with no one jumping on to follow. I was about 8-9 back when I saw him, so I took off to jump on his wheel and see what the two of us could do. Vince was ahead of me but opted not to try and jump on too as he wasn't sure he'd have enough not to pull the rest of the group with him. That would not have been good, so it was a good call on his part.
Shannon and I did end up breaking away on the bottom of that 2nd to the last lap and had to work the last lap together to keep the rest of the peloton behind us. Again, not knowing he was more fresh, I took stabs up front just to make sure we could keep the breakaway. It was ridiculously painful to stay on his wheel, but I did all I could to do so. When we rounded the last turn, I was pretty much done. However, Shannon encouraged me to go, so I stood up and gave it all I got. I did get passed by one guy on our group, but I think having gone into neutral when we got passed by some Cat 1/2/3 guys helped the other guy catch up to us. In the end, I think I was able to secure a top 10 finish for our team.
I'm sure if Shannon didn't get a flat, this could have been a totally different race. We learned even more on this race, so chalk it up for more racing experience for the team. My lesson is not to go for the primes when we don't have the top point leader covered. Others learned other valuable lessons as well, so we'll be out again next time with an actual strategy. Woo hoo...can't wait!
Thanks Shannon and Vince for coming out, and Pam and Todd for your support. Looking forward to having Todd join us next week. It should be ON!
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