Troy & Pancake Race

These past two weeks have flown by. I ended up racing in Ohio and Indiana while camping with a few of the teammates (John Zaccone & Alex Keomany). We raced the pro1/2/3 category together which was exciting since I usually race in category three. I have a good sense of what it takes to be competitive in the pro1/2/3 field. It's hard, but it's a hell of a fun time suffering.

At the Troy classic, I ended up falling to the back of the field about an hour into the criterium. I felt chills spread through my body and I knew I was about to bonk. I decided to slam a bunch of gu gels with caffeine. Man, those things work. As the three leaders caught our chase group, the pace slowed and I began to recover. The caffeine seemed to jack my legs back to form. Sitting about 5th wheel, I noticed in my peripheral vision that a rider jumped up the left side. I jumped too and we soon formed a gap. We worked hard for about two laps before running into Ray Dybowski. At this point, the two got confused and I just kept charging along in time trial position. I soloed for about 2-3 laps and eventually found a group of three riders. Two of us continued to pull hard. Looking down at my power meter, I was shocked because my once close to bonked out legs were now pumping out the watts. We must have been doing well because we soon caught the main chase group which put us in the sprint for up to 4th place in the race. When the sprint came, rounding the roundabout for the last time, my time trialled legs failed and I rolled through the line for 13th place. I was ecstatic because it was one of my first pro1/2/3 races and I ended up racing well with the Texas Roadhouse guys and some other larger teams of hammerheads.

Pancake wasn't as intense, but it was challenging. I missed breaks during the road race and spent most of my time up front blocking for John Zaccone and chasing down breaks. There were only a few of us in the field working during the last few laps. Tome Burke and myself slaved away at the front for a lap and a half to chase down a little break. We kept complaining about the riders sitting in. Some guys that didn't have any guys in the breaks still sat in the draft. After the sprint, I was stoked to hear John got third. It was the first time I felt like I sacrificed for a teammate.

After a few smores and good times back at the camp site, it was time for the Sunday morning time trial. I was disappointed at my 19th place finish at the back of the field sprint considering I worked at the front for most of the 72 mile race. This was fuel for the fire. I made a few quick adjustments to the "Black Widow" time trial bike (which I was fortunate to be able to use since it is Darrell's), slurped down a few caffeine gel shots and threw my gear on. I time trialled around the course for a 4th place finish of 29 minutes flat.

I was happy to get some GC points, but John was our GC man after his 3rd and then his 6th place time trial. We went into the criterium prepared to get John to the front at the end or to allow him the chance to break away. I would have worked for John, but I saw my chance in a break away. I ended up sprinting away from the field with Tom Burke right before the turns in the criterium course. I didn't realize at the time that there were three guys already out in a breakaway. Tom and I took turns pulling and ended up establishing a half a lap gap on the field. Right before the sprint, we shook hands and smiled. We didn't like the situation in the field and we did something about it. It was a satisfying feeling. As we sprinted, I couldn't match Tom's jump and I rolled through behind him. I need to work on the right gearing before sprints! You would think the track would help me sprint, but it hasn't shown yet.

South Lyon ended up taking the overall team victory for the Pancake Stage race with John in 5th place, myself in 8th place and Alex in 15th place overall. What a weekend. I have a feeling I will remember the good times camping with the guys for a long time.