Summary: 9th place, race came down to a field sprint
The Details: Good field of about 60-65 guys including a few DLP pros, Johnny Sundt (Kelly Benefits), and about 12 Coca-Cola Hincapie riders. I worked hard to stay near the front for the first half of the race. I started to cramp up in my calves right about the halfway point of the 50kilometer (31 miles) race so I drifted backwards towards the back of what was left of the field and tried to recover. There were lots and lot of small moves and splits in the field, but nothing was staying away. With 10 laps to go though, a split of about 10 riders got up the road with good team representation. I attacked and bridged up to it and we stayed away for two to three laps. I thought for sure the winning move would be a break from that split so I watched for an opportunity but nobody attacked and the field caught back up to us. At this point it was all back together and the pace ramped up as people fought for position. I kept good position, but not quite as good as I would like. I came around the last corner in about 10th place, passed a few people and then got passed by one or two as I cramped up bad before the line. All-in-all 9th place isn’t bad especially with cramps off and on for about half the race.
My teammate, Mike Lackey, had a good race in the Cat 3 field – working hard to stay near the front, cover moves. He ended up taking 8th place in his race with one guy soloing off the front to win. Tomorrow we race together in a combined P/1/2/3 field and I am looking forward to it. Another day, another race!
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