First Race with no School on my Mind! Wilmington Grand Prix

First time riding the train with this sexy machine

With the horrors of the semester behind me, it was finally time to get back to racing my bike at the top of the American Criterium Circuit. I am more eager then ever to get a result and help the team, not because I am finally out of school, but also because I have only done two race weekends with the team since team camp and I feel like I have been performing below my expectations. Things were different now, I have been able to get myself plenty of sleep the week prior to this event, I have no crazy exam the Monday after the weekend, and I also made a bike change to Litespeed’s L1r which I can say has made a huge difference in my ability to approach and exit a corner without bleeding any power or speed. There were no excuses to not race hard and get a result for either myself,  or the team

The pre race hoopla was simplified, there was no half hour of call ups, it was just the top ten racers leading the criterium series that were called to the front. This included both Chris and Thomas from the team. I lined up in what would be the middle front of the group, but I was not worried about moving up on this course. The very large figure 8 offered plenty of room to move around.

The race started as many riders hit off the line aggressive and angry to get the race strung out. As we started our second lap I was able to get to the front, I sat in the top five wheels and was able to follow the accelerations that were happening. I knew I was going to have to be more attentive then usual. We were only fielding a 4 person squad instead of the full team of 6 we are normally allowed.  As the race started to heat up I was almost taken out by my own cycling computer as it was ejected from my bike and hit my chin 2 laps in. No time to look for it, the racing was on. (lost garmin 510. if you have it please return, thanks!)

I quickly saw a split form a few riders in front of me, I was able to bridge across to the move that was forming with one of the UHC riders. When we made it across to the leaders we had a sizable gap, but there was no cohesion and the chasers behind slowly reeled us in.

As the counters came thick and quick, a second split formed and got off the front, I was near the front of the group assessing the situation, the situation being I did not have the legs to bridge to that split after I had just came back. Luckily I saw Chris start to bridge to the move that formed up the road. I stayed near the front to make sure if anyone tries to get across I can jump on their wheel in what could be a free ride to the break.

that white sliver is a chunk of my
Garmin :(

UHC sent a few guys to do some monster pulls to try to keep the break in check, but they were not bringing the full force of the squad to the front just yet… As the pace lulled going through the start/finish I saw an Airgas rider starting to come around the front of the chasing pack. I sprinted after him and was able to get on his wheel in the first turn. I saw that we both had a large gap and the two of us started to work together to bridge to the leaders. We were able to make it 3/4s the way across to the leaders, but we were loosing steam fast, 10 riders can sure go a lot faster then two! We never made it across, and were slowly reeled in by the slowly but surely UHC train that was forming at the front of the group.

As the race laps ticked off I was able to hold my own very comfortably at the front of the group. I was exactly where I needed to be if any sort of split was going to form, as well as help Thomas or Brandon if they needed me. As the laps started to come down so did the time gap to the leaders. UHC was able to bring back a 45 second gap to 25 seconds after a few laps at the front. However a small crash at the front of the UHC train ruined their organization as one of their riders took a turn a little too wide and rode into the barriers out of the last corner. This small crash was just enough to bring the pace down for the break to bring their gap back out to a large enough gap needed to stay away. At this point I knew the break was gone.

For the remainder of the race I continued to ride close to the front of the pack, as we were in the closing last few laps I was starting to see Brandon and Thomas a bit more and we were starting to ride with each other in a trio. There were times that I did find myself leaning my head into several riders as I was fighting to keep near the front of the race. I was aggressive when I needed to be and knowing that I did not have school on Monday made it that much easier for me to relax and do what I was put on this team to do. Which is get and help get results.

With two laps to go I was lined up behind both Brandon and Thomas and the three of us were riding just in-front of the bubble of the peloton. I could feel the heat of the pack starting to breath down my neck, but I knew I was in the spot that I needed to be in. As we made it to the bell lap it was getting close to a free for all, As we made it to the back stretch of the last lap I could hear Thomas yelling for Brandon to give it his all. I saw Brandon sprinting as hard as he could along side the peloton. After a moment I decided that it was time to make a move. I sprinted around Thomas giving him plenty of room to get on my wheel. As I accelerated past Brandon, I kept sprinting with my head down. I quickly overtook the UHC train about 50 meters before the second to last corner with Thomas on my wheel (I cannot even describe the feeling of that those last two corners, going around UHC felt weird, I also have never in my young cycling career led a peloton into the final sprint on the last lap of a pro criterium). As I exited the last turn I just stood up out of the saddle and sprinted. 400 meters slightly uphill, I knew I was going to get past by a few riders, but there was nothing I could do. I saw the flash of neon green as Thomas sprinted around me as well as a few more flashes as the front of the group started to come around my fading sprint. I bike through at the line and knew I raced a good hard race.

Chris would end up sprinting for a 4^th place out of the break, Thomas would end up 21^st, I would end up 23^rd, and Brandon would end up 27^th.

Post race eats!

Now that the dust has settled a little bit, I can only say that I wish I had jumped a little harder with the Airgas rider in our attempt to bridge to the leaders. If we made it across, having two guys in what would have been a 12 person break would have improved our chances of a podium quite a bit. Regardless of that, I felt like I was apart of the race and was doing what I needed to do for the majority of the time. I was active early on, making splits and keeping a tab on who was up the road. I was also able to help get Thomas into the last 2 corners second wheel for the sprint from the pack at the end of the race. I feel like my racing is only going to go up from here. Cheers to a summer break full of racing.

Wilmington was a little rough, but this was a nice view