I’m digging all these race reports, sounds like everyone had a successful weekend and kept the rubber side down by and large.

First race of the year for me, training series at quicksilver, in Dulles, Virginia. Did the “A” race (Cat 1/2/3 but very heavy on the 1s and 2s, very light on the 3s). Super windy and with the large warehouse buildings out there directing the wind, all but a small portion of the “D” shaped course was into a head wind. Three teammates, we decided to be instigators and really aggressive to see what our legs had in them. We decided there would be no move without one of us in it, and if no moves were going, we’d get them started. One of my teammates went off the front pretty early, and hard. He’s a bigger guy at about 170 – 175 lbs and super powerful. He took a couple of riders with him and rode them off his wheel into a head wind – very cool. After a lap of so, I could see him up there looking around and obviously pedaling squares so I leapt up to him, felt pretty snappy at that point. Although we’re unknown to the big players in the field, the 2 of us got some notice and we were joined quickly by a group, and shortly thereafter by the rest of the field. At that point I put in an attack and got out solo, the wind was so brutal at one point I was going max effort to hit 18 mph – talk about deflating. After a few miles (close to 2 laps) I was seeing cross-eyed and joined by a chase of 6 to 8 riders. I was able to cling onto the back of that group, but just barely. The group didn’t have a lot of punch and the field joined up. After re-grouping, the really strong men, maybe 10 or so, countered and split the field, I was going backward at that point, as was my 1st teammate who attacked earlier, but our 3rd guy got into the move. Good on him!

Teammate and I stayed at the front of the field hoping for a chase or bridge effort that we could get a ride with. A few tried and we each tried a few of our own, but the breakaway group was too fast, wind too brutal, and we were too tapped to get up there. Early last lap, my teammate was toward the front and I fell back a bit looking for a guy I know to be a powerful sprinter. Boom, there he is and I put myself on his wheel. He’s a Mcewen type that needs minimal leadout. We picked our way through the pack, which was splintered and beaten by that point. I was psyched thinking my position was perfect and I had a shot at the field sprint. Too bad my legs didn’t agree, when we got up beside my teammate who was still in the field I told him to get in front of me. I opened up a gap and let him in. Last turn, our mark leading out, teammate in front of me, then me, and 2 other guys behind. If anyone near dulles airport heard a large explosion around 2 p.m., it was me blowing up. The guy who was our mark won the field sprint; teammate was second, 2 guys who started behind me 3rd and 4th, me 5th. Not sure how many were in the break, but our teammate up there gave it he11 and finished top 10.

Since it was a training race, and we were in over our heads a little, we werent very concerned about results. We were very pleased we had someone in the final selection, but wish we would have had one more of us so we could have worked it to our advantage. The take home is that our team is strong, my own form is coming around pretty well, and most of those Cat 1s and 2s are faster than I am. Also, I felt a little uncomfortable mid pack and moving around in a crowd. Next week, I’ve gotta work on getting more comfortable and confident hiding and being patient.