Originally Posted by Allegheny Jet

After warming up with some team mates over a 10 mile lap I rode in a 30 mile Cat 4 race under windy conditions with higher temps then we are used to in Ohio. I rode very strong today and was able to hammer up the big hill at the front of the 30 man pack on each lap. Tired to get into two early break-a-ways that didn't go anywhere. Early in the 3rd lap a team mate got away with 5 other riders, so from there on my race was to protect our rider in the break. I stayed at the front for the last 5 miles pulling the group along and keeping our sprinter out of the wind. I worked to push the pace to split the remaining pack, not let any attacks get to our man out front, and to keep our sprinter fresh. Possibly due to the heat, my good day, or this past week's planned recovery, my HR was in mid to upper Z5 for the whole time I pulled and I was nowhere near blowing up. With less than 1/2 mile to the finish, the pack that was left, went by me for the field sprint. I followed up the field sprint and finished in the top 12 or so. It sucks that on a day when I rode so well with power I didn't place, but our team did take 3rd and 7th over all. The race only paid $ for the top 5 places so I didn't really care about sprinting in a field sprint that didn't mean much. I did get in 30 racing miles with a 22.8 average and a lot of kudos from my team mates.