Kicking off the Fall part of the season with a little Driveway!

Had a fun day in Austin yesterday. This fun consisted of racing the driveway, and then going to Kevin’s 21^st birthday. The Driveway itself was brutally hot as always. I decided I was going to wear my skinsuit (I regretted it) and just sit in for as much as I can. It was the speed loop and the pack typically ends in a field sprint… This field sprint assumption of mine for speed loop as been wrong 100 percent of the time. Maybe it’s this hope of “sitting in” and “taking it easy” that makes pinning on a number in three digit temperatures a bit nicer.

As the race progressed a large group split off of the front fairly early into it, this group included many strong guys as well as my teammate Steven. From then on the race seemed to develop weirdly. At one point I tried to go across the large move but was only reeled in a lap later. I sat near the front just watching for any moves that may try to go across. However that never happened. I could see that there were some games that were being played in the lead group. However I feel like we never ‘caught’ the leaders. We would always get close, then some riders would fall off the lead group and come back just as a few would bridge across. This exchangement of riders continued until the final 20 minutes where I finally able to get away from the peloton. I was then quickly joined by Sheehan and Gonzo half a lap later. The Three worked smoothly together until we caught the back of the leaders.

Once I made it to the leaders I knew that we were going to stay away. I saw that there was a lot of horsepower, teams were well represented, and we were in the final third of the race. As I rotated in the break I made sure to do minimal work. With Elbowz having 3 guys in the move and myself having Phil back in the group behind to mop up a sprint, it would be silly for myself to risk dropping myself out of the move to extend the gap. As the laps ticked down our pace stayed fairly high. I regrettably did not go for as many primes as I should have. At one point I tried to split the lead group as I countered a prime sprint. Brant, Heath, and I got a little separation with 5 to go. We were however quickly brought into the mix. Heading into the final 500 metes I was in okay position. I was behind Brant, and the two of us were behind the Elbowz lead-out. I waited too long in the sprint and did not jump till everyone else was already lunging for the line. I was able to get myself a 4^th place. Not too shabby for a week off the bike.

Every race I try to make a learning experience. I plan to only get stronger and faster from now through the final races of the year. Getting a top 5 my first race after some downtime from the bike is a good sign and starts things out on the right foot. Like always I could not do anything in these races if it was not for my amazing team and their support.