Beginning this first race of 09 i had no expectations but to just test myself, conserve as much as possible by pedaling as efficiently as possible, and watch the fast guys get ready and launch their attacks and then i would decide what to do. The race started out pretty fast and lined up double riders. there was always riders up the road trying to establish a break. One guy would launch an acceleration up the side of the peloton taking with him one or two guys up the road to usually 2-10 guys max in a break but nothing every got organized or there just wasn't enough representation from teams to sit up and stop chasing because they already had a man in the move. The Breaks would never get more that 5 seconds ahead, I wasted a lot of energy in a couple bridging moves and following the wheels of the established fast men of nor cal to hope to end up in a successful break but nothing worked. After the 40 minutes i decided to sit permanently in the main group to sprint. The non-sprinter type riders tried all they could to take off up the road during the lap cards showing but i decided to take the gamble and get lucky by following a good wheel into the sprint. On the bell lap i was probably 10Th in the main group with still about 4 guys giving everything to stay out in front of a hungry driving fast peloton. Coming into the last turn i was the 4Th wheel back with one guy in between pooping out so at that point i lossed the perfect lead out situation of sling shooting for the win so i jumped way too early, far from the finish line to wind up for the sprint. As i crossed the finish line, i looked up to see a Davis kid crossing about a bike length in front of me and i in second. I was very happy with the day and look forward to more racing. Here's a couple of my views from the day, I had a good time and thanks Montoya family!
Congrats AC! Great ride and well deserved 2nd! It was fun watching the big boys duke it out.
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