Snelling RRTeam: Stone, Peter and Ivo
This was my first race as a 3, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I wanted to stay attentive, near the front and out of trouble. We had 92 guys lining up at the line and our plan was to be near the front from beginning. The only other person I recognized was CVC's Brandon Howard. SPOC seemed to have come out of hibernation and they had a bunch of guys in the morning's 35+ 1/2/3 race as well as afternoon's P/1/2 race.
The pace was fairly quick but we wanted to be agressive and I really wanted to test my legs and see how everyone else responds. The plan was to try and initiatie a breakawy. Unfortunately the wind was not as strong as last year and even though Peter, Stone, Ivo and I spent little bit of time in breaks, nothing stuck. So here we are, 92 guys rolling into the final Blood Alley and I wanted to help position a teammate near the front. The tempo actually seemed pretty decent for the first 1/3 of the alley (this is the last mile before the right-hand turn to the finish). However, a while later we slowed to a crawl and there was NO WAY OUT. Once a spot opened on the outside guys went in and clogged it up. People were riding on and some even off the road to keep their position. This was insane. Finally, with about 300m to go before the right-hand turn Peter M attacked and strung out the field. However, nobody would pull through and beffore long we were all getting sandwiched again. However, before that moment a spot opened on the righ-hand side and I went by the peleton and into the last turn in 2nd place. I just went from 30th to 2nd in matter of seconds. I was able to get a ride up to the 200m mark and then I was on my own. Sitting 1st I knew guys would come fying by me soon. I gave it everything, but by the time I went through the line I was finish I was completing a 400m sprint and ended up 7th.
Looking forward to Merco! Let's get some!!
Picture Copyright Ronald Marino
No comments:
Post a Comment