The pace was very controlled at first with people settling in and jostling for position. It began to rain off and on which caused my Oakley's to fog somewhat on the climb, and I and several other riders shed our glasses. Once we crested the top, the descent was equally controlled with a lot of braking. The glasses went back on due to lots of road spray.
After an ample recovery, we made a right turn which promptly brought the start of another long ascent. This time, however, the pace was sharply driven and I quickly found myself and others heading back through the peloton as others surged forward. I knew I had to hang tough at this point, but as I passed Michael Larimer pulling off to the side with a flat, I began to wish I had caught his luck.
As I drifted farther away from the main group, I saw Todd Bolgrin (co-founder of SBR, now with TLE) start to fall off as well. I yelled to him to get back on "this is the race right here", and I pushed to try to work my way back on. About half a dozen other riders were also being popped off the back at this point, and SBR was in really great shape having all but two of our riders still in the main group.
There was a decision to be made at this point: do I work with Todd (and the others) to try to chase, or do I attempt to subvert any chase? I quickly chose to work with Todd and attempt to rejoin the race. As we passed other dropped riders the chase became fairly organized close to the top of the climb. As we began the descent, I surged to the front and drove the pace up on the downhill.
At this point, the race was no where in sight and I didn't know if it was possible to catch them. However, I knew with the larger numbers they would have a harder time descending quickly. As I punched over 30 and then to 38mph, I was close to spinning out my 52-12 at 110rpm and tucked in for the descent. After a 1/2 mile to mile had passed, I looked back and didn't see the rest of the chase group! While I wasn't familiar with the curves I was able to choose my line and didn't have to contend with road spray, which put me at an advantage I hadn't recognized.
As the descent continued, I was still coasting and completely off the brakes, but I did control my speed by adjusting my tuck on the bike. I'm not sure where this happened in the descent (I think it was toward the end), the rest of the chase caught and started to pass me with big rider pulling the group along. I fell in and decided to recover a little.
After the short recovery, Todd and I took over driving the pace at the bottom of the hill. The main group was now within sight on the flat at the bottom. I took another half mile pull which hurt, and the group was now within reach. Crossing the staging area the chase group became a free for all to try and grab back on.
As the first climb part duex started we rejoined the race near the finish line. A quick increase of the pace was too much for me and a few others at this point, and off the back I went again. This time there would be no catching back on. While I knew my race was over at this point, I fought the urge to stop and to hand in my timing chip at the finish.
After the single rider I was with snuck up the road, I latched on to the next rider who came along. We worked really well together chasing but not catching anyone. After the descent we made the right to what would be the final climb. We were gaining on the single rider who had snuck away from me earlier and there was also a pair of riders who had been dropped from the main group.
As the single rider passed the pair, I thought it would be better for the 4 of us to work together and we were able to organize. During the last descent, I launched an attack to try and get up the road to the single rider who was still ahead. I was able to get a gap, but knew it wouldn't stick. It did have the desired effect of driving up the pace and when I rejoined and tucked in, the single rider was in reach. The pair of teammates we had caught were working well together, but they weren't really working against me or the other rider.
Once we passed the staging area for the 2nd and final time, I was watchful for any team tactics. Seeing none, I didn't want to wait too long and decided to attack early. The other riders didn't respond and I got a 100 yard gap up the road. The finish was much farther up than I expected, but as I often looked back, I didn't see any reaction. I was very relieved to cross the finish line.
Tom Keller had taken 5th overall and the rest of SBR had finished with the lead group. In the 3-4 results Tom was 2nd and SBR had 4 riders in the top 10. Todd Bolgrin took first in a fashion like Tom had taken 2nd last year, being dropped and winning the fight to catch back on. I'm glad to have had a part in that even if it was for a former and not a current team mate.
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