Yeah, that was cool to see so many BFers in the same race in Austin (seems to happen in SoCal more often). Flaco and Ravenmore are doing great. I lost track of UT_Dude, but I was expecting him to be shadowing me
It was nice to get back to racing again. I haven't raced since the end of March. I tried one attack early on, but the pack was pretty responsive, so I just kept it cool. I helped haul the pack up to a couple break attempts just to keep things together while I figured out how I wanted to finish.
It worked out perfectly when a 2-man break got away with 3 to go. On the next lap, I attacked and bridged (which took half a lap, and I brought a Violet Crown rider - GH - with me). By the time I caught the break, we had half a lap left, and I tried to recover as much as I could, but I was in trouble. One of the two original breakaways hadn't taken a pull for a lap or two -- the other guy was doing all the work.
So, in the final sprint, I still had too much chase in my legs to beat that guy with his fresh legs, and he got a win on a well-played 3 lap break. I'm happy with 2nd (lost by about a bike length), and I'm ready to rock the crits in Houston this weekend...
Man, that bridge was tough! I can't download my power data yet, but I'm excited to see it in the morning. I just looked at it like a 1m interval. I wasn't even concerned about anyone chasing since it all happened so fast. Kudos to GH for not letting me get away. I think he held on for third (he was one of the final five at my win in Manda too -- I'll be seeing more of him).