Thursday GP Crit - Masters 2-Man Team

Strava:  http://app.strava.com/rides/1290498

GC:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107643071

For today's race, Todd and I decided we were going to give the Masters class a try just to see how we could do as a team of two.  We both would have liked to ride with more of the team in the Cat 4/5 class, but the lure of riding with others in our age group was appealing.

The start of the race was much like how the Cat 4/5 class would start where everyone seems to hold back.  Watching the Cat 1/2/3 class take off before us though was quite humbling considering they seemed to have flat out sprinted right out of the gate.  Crazy!

Although we didn't really plan it, both of us seemed to be on the same page for a majority of the race.  We both kept an eye on each other where if one would defend a break, the other would be right there as well...all without prompting.  There were also several break attempts during the race, and it seemed we were both on board to defend them despite not really having the numbers to do so.  In one of the breakaways, not only did we defend it but we pretty much did so by ourselves.  The nice thing was we wouldn't leave one another hanging out there for too long before the other would relieve us despite others trying to block.  Great team work!  I can only imagine how it would have been with more of us.

For the primes, I did sprint for both of them since I knew LTJ was nearby to pick me up in case an attack followed.  I wanted to see how fast these guys could sprint, but without a leadout, I couldn't really get a good position for them.  It still serve the purpose of letting me know just how fast these guys were. 

After having defended attacks as much as Todd and I did, the last lap was tough to set up.  Having closed or helped as many breaks as we did, the peloton for the sprint finish was huge!  One guy tried to break away, but the group picked up the pace to almost 29 mph starting midway on the back stretch all the way to the end.   Todd tried to set up a leadout for me, but the pace was too hot that it wasn't feasible.  I had to pass early and ask LTJ to jump in the draft and see if we could set something up on the last few turns.  Unfortunately, this was impossible since now there was probably about 20 or more people getting ready for that final sprint.  I was caught between all sorts of people, so it was hard to get into a good position.  When I tried, there were just too many people to chase down since it was like a swarm of bees heading toward the finish line. 

While we would have preferred to make top 10, one of the rewarding parts of this ride was just how well we could work together and make it an all together different race than week's before.  The Masters never caught the Cat 4/5 group because of how we kept neutralizing the attacks, so the workout was just as intense as the last race if not more.  My average of almost 25 mph was actually the highest its been in all of these outings, so we definitely worked our asses off.  Chalk this up as another great race.

Thanks to Pam, Shannon and my wife and kids for making it out to support us.  Of course, we probably would have appreciated it more if Shannon was out there racing with us, but he came with cold brew so good enough.  We'll miss him for next week's race.