Road America day 7. Roster: Clay, Matt, Max, Cory, Andy, and myself
Road America is as close to Texas as it comes for a race. Through years of ironing my skills at multiple Driveway Criteriums and several laps around the Circuit of the Americas car track, I can honestly say that I have mastered races on exposed tarmac. In 2013, Road America was the race that got me hooked on the Tour of America’s Dairyland.
Although Road America is hidden under the “road race” flag, it is truly a circuit race: 4.5 miles per lap, with long exposed climbs, some sweeping curves, and asphalt as smooth as volcanic glass – designed for a battle ground of aggressive and fast racing. Heading into the race the team plan was to keep Astellas represented in any move that went off the front, aiming to get our strong men into a break and to the line. Historically, this race does not produce pack finishes so we were banking of that trend to continue on.
A mild pace from the start allowed me to move up to the front and get in position to cover early moves without difficulty. However, I found myself using lots of energy following early moves set by Canyon Cycling. I did what I could to sit on moves until my team reinforced my efforts and took off some of the pressure. The course was easier then I remembered in years past – calmer winds allowed for the pack to stay together going through the feed zone and start/finish area. Many riders made swift and powerful attacks, but Astellas was on top of it. If any move tried to get away without us, we were quick to get to the front and get the gap close enough to send someone across.
Things were going smooth till about 3 laps to go where a move created some separation and we had no riders in position to cover. I immediately maneuvered my way towards the front with Max and started to work to bring things back together. While we were up there, the rest of the team came to the front. But the blocking from the Airgas guys combined with our poor communication prevented us from bringing back the leaders. I would give it one last pull heading into the last lap before I swung wide and called it a day. We wound up not getting the result we wanted. Lack of communication and cohesion messed us up. A very frustrating day for the team knowing that we have the legs and guys to get to the podium.
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