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| Keeping a tab on the fast guys |
After a rough day at Walburg I was hoping to get a little bit of relaxation the next day at Pace Bend, relaxation in terms of warm weather, and no yellow line rule. Pace Bend Park, like Walburg is always one of the top attended races of the season. What sets Pace Bend apart from many of the other Texas races is that it is located fully within the Pace Bend park allowing for the race to have full lane racing. Unlike the previous day where many racers were caught flirting with the yellow line, Pace Bend allows the full peloton to take up as much road as needed. This creates a type of racing that is more familiar with higher-level NRC races as well as allowing racers to be able to move around the pack more fluidly. This changes the dynamics of the race subtly and in my years creates a more enjoyable experience. Less rules to follow typically means one less things I have to think about during my race.
With a 12:30 in the afternoon start to the race I had plenty
of time to prepare my equipment and my food for the day. However I was not
prepared for the hot weather that was present that day. My phone was telling me
that it was tickling 80 degrees and it was sunny. Although 80 degrees may seem
like some cool Texas weather, it was a noticeable shock to the system compared
to the icy weather that has been around for several months. I am keeping in
mind that many of my new teammates are still riding in the snow up north where
I do not believe the weather has even been inhabitable since November.
The race rolled out quickly and smoothly. I was very
attentive at the start of the race. I was being a bit too attentive to early
moves, I found myself following wheels of many early attacks and using a bit
more legs then I should have. The course itself was not allowing any moves to
get much separation. The peloton
was carrying too much momentum over the hills to allow a break to get the early
separation needed to stay away to the finish. After a few laps of heavy
aggressive riding my coach, David Wenger, found me and told me to stop riding
like fool and to relax. I took his word and slinked to the back of the field
and started to play the waiting game. I relaxed at the back of the field for
almost next two hours. Within this time the field would stretch and balloon
several times a lap, but the elastic never snapped. It was not till I saw the
field break up into three groups on the road where I started to move up towards
the front. As the three groups merged I put in a strong counter attack around
the mushrooming peloton. I was quickly caught by Christian House (Rapha Condor),
Heath Blackgrove (Boneshaker), Stefan Rothe (Elbowz), Ruarri (787) and Tristan
Uhl (787). The six of us got in a quick rotation and started to pull away from
the group. I was doing my mental checklist of what teams were in the group and
who was representing those teams. I felt like it was a solid group and started
to put some effort into opening the gap more. We were quickly chased and caught
maybe a quarter lap later as we crested the start finish hill. I faded towards the back and needed to
rethink a plan on how to get the best result possible.
Eventually a group of two riders got off the front. These
two riders will end up staying away for the first and second spots of the
podium. During the final laps of
the race I was waiting eagerly to see which teams were going to go to the front
and try to bring back the leaders. Much to my dismay I heard someone tell his
teammates to call off the chase “We are racing for third now”. Disheartened I
knew that the race was over. Before the start of the last lap I would try one
solo move to try to get away from a baking and cramping pack, but the field was
starting to rev up to get that third place spot. During much of the last lap I
sat near the back of the group waiting till the final 5k to move up. When I started
to move up I found a decent position near the front left side of the group. I
knew that a safe finish would be the best thing for me. As we hit the final
climb to the finish I sprinted with every bit of energy I had left. Much to my
surprise many riders in front of me hit a wall. The heat was a little bit too
much. I started to fly by many riders in my finishing sprint. I ended up finishing 21st.
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| Can't tell if this is me pouting knowing teams gave up for 1st or pouting cause I'm playing the waiting game |
List of how all races have been won so far…
- Omloop, field sprint ( I crashed out)
- Tour of New Braunfels RR, early break (I was saving my energy for the end and when I did finally stretch my legs it was too late to catch leaders. Got very close though)
- Walburg, mid race break where only part of stayed till the end (missed this move cause I was recovering after going way too hard at the beginning)
- Pace Bend, late race attack (No way I would have saw this sticking. And with the firepower that was left in the field I would have thought that this would have came back)
- Lago Vista Day 1???
- Lago Vista day 2???
Photos taken by Robert Mercado
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