It didn't go quite according to plan, but I'm really pleased with our team's performance. Plus, I met a great new teammate- Doug Bailey. Doug seems like a fun guy to have on the squad, plus he's got some serious power in his legs. Should make for a good wheel in addition to our already strong squad.
The race unfolded with a series of "test" attacks from myself, and Frye before Mark took off on a multiple lap breakaway. The guys in his group weren't putting their fair share of work though, and despite our team's attempt to block, they were all eventually pulled in. Then I believe Doug took a dig and got off the front for a bit. I managed to throw a good couple of attacks midway through the race, but neither time was I accompanied by anybody, and the legs just weren't fresh enough to do the job on my own.
Things were looking good as we came into 3-laps to go, and I took a good dig up the inside of a gradual uphill bend to force a separation from the pack. The team did a great job of blocking, allowing myself Brian Krueger, and another rider to get up the road for a while. Knowing Brian and his strength, I was convinced we'd be able to keep the gap and take 1st-3rd. But unfortunately, the workload was split between Brian and I, while the third member of our break decided to do no work at all. We made a bad decision to call it quits once our third member failed to pull through, and were reabsorbed on the final lap. Brian and I were both pretty upset about the other guy, but I think we know that we did our best to make something happen. Sometimes, it just doesn't work out.
The race got a bit sketchy at times (as we all expected), and Mark was almost taken out on the last lap due to some unfriendly riding from another team. That's racing though. With some impressive composure, Mark avoided becoming pavement paste and wiggled his way through the ensuing mess to finish 10th overall. Way to go, Mark!
Doug finished 18th, while I meandered in for 24th and Frye cooked himself in an attempt to start a failed lead out train. Talk about sacrifice...
A shout out to fellow UW riders John Heile and Julio Jacabo on great racing today. John was in a bunch of the early breaks today, while Julio managed to sneak himself onto the podium with a sly move on the final corner and a quick kick into 3rd place. Nice job guys!
Good job to everybody on Team Wisconsin/MC2 today. Our team was represented in every break, and looks to be the most serious team threat in the 3's peloton this season. Things should shake out well for us this year.
Regards and thanks for reading.
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