Bethel M45+, high 40's, slight headwind sprint. I have no idea where I placed. It wasn't high. I was having too much fun kabitzing with friends at the end to go check.
Going into this week, we had two guys in the points, 4th and 6th. With no other riders in the points with strong team representation, this would be a good week to solidify that lead and get someone into the yellow jersey. We accomplished both. My role today was to mark, mark, mark, attack when it made sense, drill it when needed, and be around at the end for the team leader. I spent the first 10 laps or so marking anything that moved. Stuff would get up the road when I was resting. Then I would take to the front and help pull it back. I rested for a bit as it came down towards the end. At that point there was a solo rider out. Our guy with the highest points chased him down while we worked the front. They built up an 18 second lead. With two to go I was setting up to lead out the team leader. The field had slowed and started to bunch up. He was afraid of the attacks so he told me to go to the front and drill it. I rolled up the left side and took off amidst a bit of yelling and screaming. I am pretty well marked around here. I went just hard enough to be able to stay out for a lap on the front (0.8 mi.) and string everything out as planned. My team leader came up to me afterward and said that hurt. I said, "Yeah, it did". He said "No, that hurt ME". Mission accomplished. I recovered as much as I could and gave it all I had left for the sprint. The end result was our guy won the race in the two up break and our team leader won the field sprint. We have the yellow jersey and a solid team lead. Next week is going to be interesting.
P/1/2/3. I felt much better this week going into this race and I thought I would be able to meet my goals of beating the crap out of myself. Orders from the coach were to take a flyer. I rolled with the group for a bit while a small group was up the road. I was at the front when the field slowed for the hill and drilled it, taking one rider with me. We stayed out for a lap or so but he wasn't that strong and I am still not in good enough shape to go it alone. A good interval, though. For the rest of the race, I stayed near the front for the most part, hoping to help out our young Cat2 at the end. A break was up the road but they were in sight. I drilled it again. This time a bunch of riders came with me and we strung it out, getting things close enough for a bridge effort. He decided not to bridge. At that point I just hung on to the finish giving it all I had left at the end.
I'm still not where I want to be but I am getting closer. This was a good week for fitness. I know some people don't put much stake in numbers, but if I look at my ATL at this time last year, and today, it's really close. I don't feel as good as I did this time last year, but it's pretty close. I have a rest week coming up.