Category: 3
Temp: High 80's if not 90's
Place: 2nd
The course was similar to the Burlingame Crit, but opposite direction...5 left turns and 1 right (Somewhat L-shaped). It was in the heart of downtown Davis (UC Davis) and therefore brought out a large amount of spectators, which brings the excitement and energy level up a few notches.
Our plan was simple...there were only 3 of us and we're all sprinters, so we all decided to sit in and only play with breakaways if they looked super promising. The plan worked. I went for the second prime and just missed it by inches...I felt great with the sprint and realized that I had enough juice to begin my sprint before the final turn...this was great to know and I used it in the end...
With about 2 to go we (the peloton) let one guy sneak off solo. The pace picked up and I sat about 4th wheel, with Dino on mine...we were looking good for the finish...gaining on the solo rider while conserving ourselves for the finish. As we pulled through the start/finish line with 1 to go, I found myself on the front and just did a bit of soft-pedaling (without really slowing too much) until the swarm began. I pushed hard to not get swarmed and was suddenly sitting perfectly in 3rd wheel...behind a two-man leadout. About 1/2 way through the final turn I heard the big crash behind me... The leadout man kept it nice and fast so that we did not get swarmed and I began to sprint just before the final turn. While we did not catch the solo rider, we came very close to it and it was a photo finish for 2nd place. I got it by inches!
Unfortunately, Dino and Gabe did not make it to the end. Gabe went down hard in that crash and Dino also got a bit banged up... It really sucked because Dino was in great position to have my sprint be his leadout...we could have stacked the top spots. Both Gabe and Dino were ok though, minus a few broken bike parts and some road rash.
Only me and one other guy showed up for the podium shot, so here's the makeshift podium for 2nd and 3rd place...ha!
Even better...This was the 2nd Active Athlete / Squadra Ovest podium of the day...We tore up the Category 4 race earlier in the day...the guys swept up a bunch of primes and then Anthony solo'd for the win! Congrats to our 4's.
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2 comments:
Congrats, man. Another field sprint to you and nearly the win. You're more than halfway to Cat 2 now as well, right? 15 points or something? That's rad.
And Anthony is a beast. Seeing as how I'm on piss-poor form right now, I'll look forward to you two dragging my carcass all over the north bay climbs next time I'm out there.
Apropos, out there: Still working out when, but I just told Cesar and Eric the other day that flight prices to Europe are so high I'm not going to make it back across the Atlantic this year so I guess I'll have to settle (heh, as if!) for CA!
Thanks Seth!
Yes, 15 and counting!
I'll see you this month (Superweek and Chicago Crit are on my calendar!)
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