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I came into this race feeling strong and wanting to do well. A win of course would have been lovely, but above all else I wanted to make the break and leave it all on the course. We were active from the start, with Ross, Tyler, Rob, and I covering early moves. Nothing really got any kind of leash, though. The first few laps of the race were fast, with all the attacks, and the fact that the attacks were getting covered quickly. Around the end of the third lap, I believe, Tyler came up to me in the middle of the field and told me that the elastic was breaking, to look for a move to go soon. I moved back up to the front and got ready for business time. On the descent after the main climb on the fourth lap, Jacob Mueller got away with one other guy. Shortly after, Brendan Housler attacked to bridge up, and I got his wheel. We bridged up (ow, ow, ow, Brendan is fast) and got a good
rotation working. Jacob was holding back a bit, as his team wanted more riders in the break. We still got a max gap of around 1:15. I think four more riders bridged up over the next couple laps. A couple laps later, Brendan flatted, and two riders (the eventual winners) rode away on the climb. I saw them go, could have buried myself to get
to them, but thought that Kelly Benefit, with two riders in the break, would have a guy chase, but no such luck. Afterward, I learned that they were working solely to ensure Jacob the PA State Champ jersey; the two who rode away were out-of-state riders. With two guys up the road and Kelly not concerned about chasing, and Brendan on the side of
the road, our gap diminished quickly, and the field picked us up shortly before the last lap. A large group including Rob countered as we were brought back. I was pretty sore at having spent so much time and work on the break, only to have it come back. I decided that I needed to end up off the front of the field, whatever happened. One
guy attacked early in the last lap, with Rob’s group out of sight; I saw the field lackadaisically give him a large leash, so I attacked and bridged up to him. I figured that the group ahead of us was well- gone, so I worked with him for a couple miles, until I saw the group ahead of us come into view. Conveniently, I informed him that I had a
rider in that group, so it was on him to get us up there, at which point I would start working again. He took it upon himself to try to rip my legs off on every slight incline, but I managed to cling to him for dear life. We caught the group on the last time up the main climb, with two off the front, in sight (I learned later that the two who attacked my original break were also off the front, but out of sight). Minturn set pace up the climb, and I was all like, “wah wah wah, this hurts, you skinny a-hole “. Hunter was sharing my pain, as we
dangled on the very back of the group. Fortunately, the descent arrived just in time. The two guys ahead of us were just out of reach, but Minturn was turning himself inside out regardless, props. I lent a few pulls but stopped once I saw that the gap wasn’t really changing. Every incline I prayed to not get dropped, but I guess most everyone
else was hurting similarly. With about a mile to go, there were a couple attacks (including the patented “Hunter” gently sneak off the front move) which I covered. After that, it was time to jockey for the sprint. Rob and I slotted in behind Jacob Mueller and his teammate,
but the sprint was messy– lots of people launching at different times. I think Jacob, Rob, and I were the only ones who sprinted to the correct finish line– and we took 5, 6, 7 and 1, 2, 3 in PA. It was really rewarding to want to do well here, crush myself to do it,
and succeed Unfortunately, we had a few guys flat and/or have bad days, but on the whole, I think things went well. Thanks to Ryan, Josh, Jessica, Jackie, and whoever else (Lighty’s wife?) helped with feeds.

A bit of power geekery– For the 2:48 my powertap recorded data (the wired mount popped off, so I put the powertap in my pocket to keep it safe) my IF was .89 (probably not much different for the entire race duration, 3:23. So, my normalized power was about 90% of my FTP for over three hours, OUCH! (Yes, torque was zeroed).

The race recap from JMI director Donnell:

Today was a great show of team work! From the start of the race Alec and Leroy stayed in control of the group by attacking it and following any move that went up the road. At about 3 laps to go Conner and Sam start to move up to get a good position for the sprint, but Conner got caught behind a crash at 2 laps to go. Sam flew off the front with one guy on his wheel but it was not too long before Sam rode him off his wheel. Leroy sat second wheel in the pack to discourage any chasing, then on the last lap took control of the front. Seeing Sam had a big enough gap to win and that Alec was four wheels back, he gunned it to set up the lead out for Alec. They went through the last corner in that order and the rest is history!

This victory capped off a great weekend for the JMI, with a very successful fundraising dinner for the program following the race.

Sam, Leroy, and Alex sweep the 2011 PA State Cat 4 Criterium Championship at Grandview!

More information about the JMI program is available here.  Also check out the donation page and help keep these great riders out there racing through the season!

Eight corners, many of which were tight, single file affairs. It was a really technical, fun course and definitely conducive to a break. Our plan was to stay near the front and monitor attacks, looking for our own counterattacks. Dave Casale attacked from the gun and Kyle bridged up, taking a beer prime while they were away. Once they were brought
back, Nick went, but took a wrong turn (turning left one block before turn two, I think). We tried to keep it chill to hopefully allow Nick to get back on, but couldn’t see what was going on back in the pack. Eventually Lighty went with Jamie and Ross and the three got a decent gap, 10-15 seconds. We covered a few counter attempts; eventually Ross started coming back and I attacked to bridge up, with Robin Carpenter and Geron Williams (Lighty’s teammate) coming along. We rotated for a couple laps and eventually got up there. I was feeling comfortable fitness wise, but a little uncomfortable carrying the speed through some of the corners; I skipped a pedal once or twice and it put me off a little. Lighty got popped with 10 or 15 laps to go, and our gap kept growing despite Iggy Silva and Shane Kline chasing because of some stellar blocking back in the field. At some point, Nick got away with John Minturn and the dude who won the Cat 3 race. I was planning on attacking with a lap to go because I didn’t fancy my chances against three of the best sprinters in the region. I never got more than a handful of seconds though, and got hung out to dry a bit after I was caught. Jamie countered my move and I was gapped briefly, but chased back on. Jamie led into the last corner (still on the front after his
attack) and led out, and still won the sprint, with Robin coming on fast, Geron behind, and me floundering in their wake. In retrospect, I probably should have conserved and fought for good position in the last corner– with such a fast sprint, their advantages over me might have been somewhat mitigated.

Had a blast– the Navy Yard is a fantastic venue for races. Thanks to Charles for promoting a great race and everyone who lent their time to help out!

Short story:  I grabbed 2nd, Rob with a top 10 (8th or 9th?)

Long story:   I showed up about half an hour before my race was supposed to begin and Lighty yelled to me as I was parking that they were starting in 5 minutes after the 4s finished in a lap and a half. Crap.  I still had to readjust my set screws and most likely adjust my rear derailleur (I had been riding around with two cassette spacers on my training wheel all of last week!).  Ran over to registration, ran back to my car to grab my license, and registered while Lighty pumped up my tires. Alec pinned me up while I put my shoes on.  Rode over to the start line as everyone was lining up and did a bunch of back and forths behind the field making sure my derailleur was working properly (surprisingly it was!). The course was quite simple – a three quarters of a mile oval test track with a slight elevation rise (with the finish about 1/3 to 1/2 way up) with a tailwind going up hill and a head wind going down the hill on the back stretch (probably a two to three percent rise max).  Quite a few people registered day of including Ms. Van Gilder, Egan, Minturn and Rahn, Iggy Silva, Lighty, and his new fast teammate, Geron Williams (won Rodale two weeks ago). Several other women day-of-ed as there was no W/1/2/3 race that day. Perhaps 35 or so starters?

The race started off and proceeded sort of strangely for the first half.  It was not very fast but some semi-field splits occurred that would always get brought back without much effort by everyone caught behind because of the somewhat relaxed pace.  I surfed around throughout the field hitting the front and the back at times without too much concern as I saw Minturn, Iggy, and some other fast people doing the same, even when a gap opened up between portions of the field.  I’m not sure what happened, but at some point pretty early we dropped around a 1/3 of the field.  I put in an attack fairly early and dangled 5 or 10 seconds off the front for a few laps before being reeled in by the field.  More of nothing happened for the next 10 laps or so. Iggy got to the front and strung it out up the hill at one point but sat up at the top and the field ballooned.  With around 25 to go (I think we did around 45 laps), I attacked hard coming down the hill from towards the back of the field. No one responded and I established a pretty big gap immediately and within a lap or two I was out of sight with a 20+ second gap.  Five laps or so later I saw someone attempting to bridge but was hanging steady just in sight at probably 15 seconds (from post race discussion, I believe it was Minturn).  A few laps later, I saw two riders slowing gaining on me.  When I saw that it was Iggy and Geron, I eased up to recover and take on some fluids and jumped in with them when they made contact.  We worked smoothly to retain our lead (around 30 seconds) until the final lap.  At the top of the hill the three of us sort of sat up to begin a cat and mouse finish.  Iggy jumped first and got a pretty good gap going down the hill.  I responded and Geron made it on my wheel (unsurprisingly considering my lack of jump).  I slowly reeled Iggy in going down the hill and as I passed him as the pitch turned upwards I opened up my sprint.  Geron came around on the inside and got about a half bike length on me which he held steady the next 150 meters or so to the line.  Although not a win, I was pretty satisfied with my riding today and it’s actually the best mass start result I’ve had in ages (discounting the SJ Training Crit last year, back to May of ’09 with Smoketown and Mem. Hall as a cat 3). Afterwards when I was talking with Iggy he mentioned I should have let Geron chase him down.  Seems like it could have worked as the downhill into the wind preceding an uphill sprint should have favored me as a bigger guy over Geron who is a smaller more explosive rider.  However, the risk would have been Geron waiting too long/thinking I would chase or him failing to close the gap soon enough and Iggy would have won. (Also, I should have pulled back to the inside of the course right after passing Iggy to force Geron to go slightly further to the outside and up the slight banking.)

B feature? Nick or me, not sure.

Fun racing today. I think a couple of the better 4′s have upgraded, so the field was weaker today than usual. There were very few 5′s, so they were combined into our field.

First race: 12 lap points race (sprints on 8, 4, 0). Bad position on the first sprint, so I missed the wave, but I think Nick won. We kept going, and I got the next sprint. I think Nick took the third sprint, and I was third. After the points race, Nick was first in the omnium, and I was third.

Second race: elimination– last rider across the line on each lap is pulled from the race until 3 are left– then a 2 lap scratch race ensues. Nick and I rode the front two spots for most of the race; early on I was almost eliminated, got caught in bad position, but moved up and rode on Nick’s hip. Once we made it to the scratch race, Nick set pace on the front, the other guy with us jumped, and I followed him and came around him pretty easily at the end. Turns out, he came out of the sprinter’s lane and was relegated, moving Nick up to 2nd. After the elimination, Nick remained first and I moved up to second (the guy who was in 2nd was eliminated and missed out on points entirely).

Third race: 9 lap scratch race (crit) I forget exactly how this played out, but I think Todd attacked early, then Nick and I ended up in a break with the guy who got 2nd in the points race. I attacked with two to go after that guy had pulled through; he was gapped, but chased back on with Nick in tow. I led out the sprint and Nick took it for the win.

B feature: 24 lap points race (sprints on 18, 12, 6, 0) we sat in and went for the first sprint; Nick 1, me 2, kept going. Ended up in a break of five or six riders with Todd. Next sprint, same result. Third sprint, Nick led me out, I got 1st and Nick 2nd. Our break lapped the field after the third sprint; once I got to the front, with two to go, I attacked and took the last sprint. Nick got away for 2nd.

A feature was a 40 lap madison. Nick and I technically weren’t allowed to do it, but probably could have finagled our way into it. We practiced exchanges with Rick and watched the race with his commentary, very valuable. Next madison, Nick and I will be there.

Looking at the results, we had a decent day. 4 guys in the top 15, with 4th to Kyle, 9th to Brett, 11th (bitch spot) to me, and 14th to Rob. Some 3s also hopped in, incl. Coyle, Jeff, & Ryan, and they did admirably, esp. considering it was their second race. Jeff is gonna be a beast.

The race was a bit of blur–but what I recall is that we raced very well as a team. We were aggressors for sure. We raced like we wanted to win, and unfortunately it didn’t happen–3 very fast sprinters filled out the podium spots, so 4th is a damn fine placing.

From the start, everyone did just what was expected of him. We took turns countering each other’s moves, following chasers & smart bridge attempts, trading off so that when one guy was tired he’d go too the back to recover and 1 or 2 others would move up. If there was a move without us, we brought it back.

Nick was his usual aggressive self, and was able to capture a couple primes from 2-up sprints. I also tried to lead Brett out for a prime but Ryan got him. Unfortunately Ryan got 2 primes and Nick 2. Nick got water bottles and cycling caps. Ryan got cash. Bastard! Unfortunately, Nick had just gotten pulled back when a series of counters went off about halfway through the race. 5 guys got up the road without us, and so Rob drilled it and got up there solo. This was remarkable, especially considering when I followed 2 guys bridging, including Shebelsky, without pulling, it was f-ing hard! And it took almost a full lap to make contact. This blew the field apart, with 4 of us making it but Nick caught out. Ultimately it was a field split–the second one of the day by my reckoning, but this one had a good proportion of all the players, and so it was gone. It then became an 18-person race, and we had favorable numbers, but it became very clear that the sprinters were gonna have their day. No single attack lasted off the front for more than half a lap until 2.5 to go. Warren & I pulled that lone guy back as the bell rang, and the sprinters were to have their day. I recovered ever so briefly then latched on about 10th wheel, but wasn’t to move up any more. We blazed through the last lap, Rob on the front, and at 40 mph coming round the final turn. He sits up and everyone goes outside. Perfect, I think, as the inside is way faster, if you can handle it at speed. But my legs couldn’t handle the speed. Kyle’s could. He tells Rob to give him just enough space, and I follow him through at an increasing distance as he raced to the front for the sprint. I kept the inside clogged enough to prevent anyone from coming round me, but I could only pass 1 or 2 guys and got 11th. Brett was part of the train that took the outside, so I missed what happened over there.

Nick ended up playing super teammate and keeping anyone else from getting up to the field split. With a few to go, there were 3 guys gamely pushing onward trying to bridge or take 20th place as part of a chase. Nick decided he would spoil their day, and with Jamie Clinton bridged to them easily, dropped them, and then outsmarted and/or out sprinted Jamie Clinton for the top spot for those caught out.

Lots of early moves as people were antsy, but the course was pretty fast and open with wide corners so most moves were brought back as lots of people were frantic to chase early.  I forget how the break du jour formed (Nick can elaborate), but I’m pretty sure he attacked with Egan and took a couple people that eventually Matt and Aaron bridged to until it was maybe 10-12 strong.  They hovered about 10-15 secs in front of the field for several laps and the rest of the QCW folk (myself, Mike, Steve) patrolled the front to mark moves and hold back the pace.  Finally, the always entertaining Keith Davies attacks with me on his wheel and we have a slight gap on the field and wants me to pull through but I’m hesitant since I don’t want to bring the field up to the break, but he figuratively called me yella, and when I looked back and saw our gap was pretty big I bridged to the break (dropping him in the process of course ).  But once I reached the break I was gassed and they were working together HORRIBLY.  Pretty sure Nick was in rage mode, and I immediately regretted my decision thinking “dammit, we have 4 riders up here and we are the only ones driving this break.”  We never really had a great rotation going, but somehow we fended off the field for the rest of the race.

The middle third of the race was kind of a blur and mostly a ton of frustration with people sitting on, letting gaps open and the break generally doing pretty poorly.  Matt, Aaron, Nick, Egan and I were basically the only ones consistently pulling through so in the final third or so we started pulling through harder and getting slight gaps and wearing down others until with about 4-5 to go, I attacked near the top of the riser before the final straightaway.  Once I cleared the first turn I saw Egan chasing with Matt not too far behind him and the rest of the break further behind Matt.  Egan caught me and we traded pulls and Matt eventually latched on by the next lap and we started rotating and putting distance on the field.  At the beginning of the last lap, Matt put in what I would like to dub a “nasty attack” and gapped Egan and I big time.  Egan of course had to follow so I stayed on his wheel but it was soooooo painful.  Finally as we came up the riser at the end, we had made contact with Matt and the pace came to a slight lull and I felt awful but knew I had to attack even though I felt awful.  So I put my head down, “attacked” (powerfile would say otherwise *cough*) and Matt says Egan hovered a couple feet from my wheel until about 100 m or so, where he apparently popped and I stuck it for the win.  No salute for me, I was basically just crying and praying inside the final 400 m “please don’t pass me, please don’t pass me, please don’t pass me, o god this hurts, I want to go home wah wah.”

So obviously HUGE thanks to Matt for some textbook teammate work at the end, but also to Aaron, Nick, Mike, and Steve for being active and smart racers from beginning to end.  We came in expecting to get a team win, and by god that’s what we did.  Tour de Toona here we come!

Emrick is a roughly mile long, D shaped course with the s/f on a flat straight; turn one goes into a downhill, turn 2 into a flat, then the course bends around into a decent uphill grind, and bends again into the s/f straight.

We showed up with me, Ross, Aaron, Nick, Coyle, and Steve. The plan was to be active, and force a selection/break with more than one of our guys. The first half of the race was very active, but nothing stuck. Each one of us took turns attacking, trying to soften up the field. About halfway through the race, Nick attacked, and Michael Egan and a CCV rider got up to him. The move had a handful of seconds and was looking better than anything had all day. I saw a Dynaflo rider edging out of the pack, so I moved over to his wheel and caught a free ride up to Nick’s group. We started rotating, and every lap, a couple
more riders would trickle up to us; Aaron joined shortly after me, and Ross bridged up solo a few laps later, giving us four in a move that at its largest, probably had 15 or so riders, basically a field split. With all the riders, tons of people were sitting on; me, Egan, Nick, Ross, and Aaron were driving the pace hard, with a CCV rider occasionally taking a token pull. It was getting pretty frustrating to drag around a lot of dead weight, so with six or seven laps to go, I attacked, hoping to thin the break. I was caught after a lap by Egan, with Aaron and another rider in tow. We started rotating, and eventually Nick and Ross got back up to us in a significantly reduced group. A few laps later (3 to go?) Ross attacked, and Egan jumped up to him. I wasn’t close enough to Egan to get on his wheel, but I knew that with the (growing) gap they had, that was the winning move, and we needed another guy up there. I looked around and saw tired faces, so I figured I could get away clean. I swung across the road, jumped, and didn’t see anyone trying to come with me, so I put my head down and started to bridge. It took a lap of very hard effort, Ross and Egan were cooking. When I got up to them, I sat on for a few rotations, then started pulling, as it looked like the second group was chasing…but they eventually gave up. I sat on for a bit shortly after, then tried to get Ross to sit in, as our gap was pretty safe.
With one lap to go, I attacked, to force Egan to chase with Ross in tow. I never got more than a few seconds, but I kept looking back to make sure Egan was putting himself all out there, so that Ross could counter. Egan caught me with 400m to go, and Ross immediately countered, perfectly executed. Egan tried to follow, but faltered. In the rest of the break, Aaron led out Nick, who almost took the sprint for fourth, but was pipped by a guy who sat on pretty much all day. Pretty fantastic race.

3k (9 lap) scratch race (first across the line on the last lap wins) I went with 7 laps to go, TT’ed it, and won. Coyle was 4th I think? Alec was up there as well.

9 lap points race, 3 sprints. I had bad position with a lap to go on the first sprint, and put out a serious effort to improve my position; crossed the line 3rd, with two guys a bit off the front that I was unable to reach. Marc had told me to keep going after the first
sprint, that I would get a huge gap because people would sit up. Sure enough, the first two guys across the line swept up the banking, I came down, and started drilling it. Looked back, Alec was on my wheel, perfect. We started working together. As track noobs, however, our exchanges weren’t smooth, we lost some time, and one guy was able to bridge up, that we initially were not aware of– he passed me at the line for the second sprint. He was sitting on, so after a lap, I told Alec to sit on the guy’s wheel, and I would attack for the last sprint. I attacked and got a gap, won the last sprint (that gave me the race win) but the guy gapped Alec. I think Alec got 3rd overall in the points race.

2k (6 lap) scratch race. Bradley drilled it at the start to make it hard, and I went after a couple laps. I was not given nearly as much leash as before (shorter distance, and by this point, I was pretty well marked) and I saw a few people closing down the gap on me. I let
them catch me and tried to get a rotation going, but they just sat on my wheel. So, I really sat up and tried to reintegrate into the field. The same surprise guy from the points race attacked with 400m to go, so I got on his wheel. Got on his hip around turn 3, started coming around on turn 4, then just outspun him to the line for the win.

B feature– 25 lap scratch race with omnium places 6-10 in Cat 4, top 3 Cat 5′s, and 3/4 Masters. Darco attacked from the gun and strung out for a couple laps, then pulled off. After Darco, Coyle was drilling it at the front. I was sitting in the whole time, floating around, trying to scope out who might be strong. After Coyle pulled off, a couple of guys in (I think) Bicycle Revolutions kits were pulling at the front, setting a strong tempo. With ten laps to go, I decided to attack and hopefully initiate a break (was not planning a solo move). I rolled off the front hard enough to get a gap, but mild-mannered enough to hopefully encourage participation. Well, no one chased, so eventually I put my head down and went hard. Ended up almost lapping the field solo. As I was rolling around the infield, Charlie yelled at me to come do the A feature, a 30 lap scratch race. Why not?

A feature– 30 lap scratch race with 1-5 Cat 4′s, top 3 in B feature, and 1/2 Masters. This race was much, much faster and harder than the previous races (obviously). Rick went from the gun. I was having trouble getting out of the wind and into the fast lane, so to speak, but I eventually made it in there. We were doing a paceline basically, without anyone off the front, just setting a fast tempo. One guy attacked a couple wheels in front of me, but I stuck on his wheel. When he pulled off, I set the pace higher to hopefully set up a counter. Sure enough, Charlie came around me with another guy; I had a gap on the field, so I went with them. We rotated a couple times, but got shut down quickly by the field. With 18 laps to go (I think) Wolman went with another guy– this was the move of the race. Charlie and I stayed up front to block (as much as you can in track racing)
but the sprinters were not to be denied. The last lap was FAST…Charlie and I were both too tired to factor in the sprint, and rolled in at the back. Wolman was caught, unfortunately, but put out an awesome effort. At the end of the day, I talked to Ben Miller, the guy who coordinates the track racing, and he told me to get my ass up
to the 4′s, which is what I was gunning for. Looking forward to racing with Charlie (who, uh, won the Cat 4 omnium today) Nick, and Colton as frequently as we can make it up there!

Through what can only be described as mitosis, Alliancewas there with what seemed to be twice their normal numbers. A few breakaway attempts went off the front towards the beginning, but to no avail.  Eventually a breakaway of 3 riders formed — including Ryan Shebelsky (the only rider ahead of Brett in the BAR standings) — and they pushed a big gap quickly and eventually caught the field and sat in.  I went for a cash-money prime and thought I had it in the bag with a big gap on the field when some dude zipped past
myself and the rider I just free-wheeled off of.  Next thing I know Robin Carpenter (BikeReg-Cannondale) is right behind myself and the prime winner yelling “GO!”

In my head “Eh, why not?” completely forgetting and I had busted my hump in a break 24 hours earlier.  I figured the prime winner would have tacked on as well…nope.  It was just Robin and I.  Crap…but I soldiered on with the lightning-fast 19 year-old none the less.  According to Brett we maybe got 20-30 seconds on the field but the lead break we were chasing was an additional 45 seconds ahead of Robin and myself.  I kept it going with Robin for 4 laps or so until my body threw a coup and completely shut down.  I apologized to Robin in a yelled format and took a lap of steady but decent paced cool down and reintegrated back into the field.  Robin got caught 2 laps later after sitting up.  I felt bad, but I didn’t have the cajones to pull of a stunt like that two days in a row.  At the very least, Brett told me it gave him a chance to recover in the field (he seemed to find himself on the front quite a lot before that).  Blah blah blah, yada yada yada… field sprint at the finish for 4th.  Big gap opened up in the final sprint that I bridged across for 9th – yet another chronic case of good legs at the finish and poor placement and getting caught behind the jump.  Brett came in at 12th.

The 2/3 race had maybe 40 people at the start line. Wearing the Breakaway race blues were: Matt,Tyler, Nick, Jimmy, Marc V. (doing is second race of the day, I might add),Colton, Peter, and myself.  Needless to say, we were a substantial portion of the field.  The plan for the day was to try and deliver Tyler or Nick first to the line through whatever means possible, be it a breakaway or field sprint.

The way the race played out has some decent comedic elements, at least for me.  Before I get to the in-race details, I can be quoted in the strategy emails as saying “Breakaways have never really seemed to be my thing for one reason or another…” so begins the comedy…

After the customary first-lap-everyone-go-fast-but-do-nothing lap, we roll through the start/finish, one guy attacks off the front and another goes to catch.  There was no reaction from the field, so I attack from maybe 7 back in the hopes just dragging the field up and keeping any break from forming sans Breakaway riders.  Next thing I know, I’m off the front catching the second guy’s wheel and soon forming a breakaway group of 3 – this is 2.5 min into the race.  After a few laps, Michael Egan (Zen Masters), Eric Salzer (Chester County Velo), Nick Roeder (Tri-State Velo), and Dave Dawson (Caffeinated Cyclists) bridged up to the group and somehow the two original breakaway members with me pealed off.  Within a lap or twoTylerbridged up, and the breakaway was now 6-large and we were the majority team…and that’s pretty much all she wrote.

The rest of the team in the field did what I heard was a fantastic job of covering attacks and setting the pace.  45 seconds was our max gap, but it was enough to play a little cat-and-mouse the last three laps.  Eric and Nick both let gaps open up towards throughout the race with the sketchiness of turn 2, and having to close those numerous gaps is likely what drained the tank to E for the final sprint.  Unfortunately, a quality result from the break wasn’t the cards for Tyler and I that day, and we rolled in 5th and 6th, respectively.

It’s likely you see the comedy now.  For having never been in a breakaway for any longer than 5-10 minutes before, I suddenly found myself OTF for nearly 54 minutes.  Some may call it amazing…I call it more awe-strikingly stupid that it actually succeeded until the end.  Sometimes you just have to flip on the “inner Jens” and go for it.  Although, having a super-organized and awesome team doesn’t hurt either.