The third race in the George’s Spring Series was today. The Blacks Creek road race is known for its typically windy and cold conditions. You know the weather patterns are all out of whack when you show up for Blacks Creek and it is fairly warm with mostly clear skies! I was happy with this turn of the weather as it was raining on and off most of the week. It was just Ted, Klaas, and me in the Pro/1/2 field for Intermountain Orthopaedics. We started with a neutral roll-out until we got across a set of railroad tracks. The attacks came quick, but without any of the “notables” in them. Basically, they were just decoys. But things were spirited and it was actually fun taking turns chasing or countering the attacks.
After the halfway point, a break of two got off that quickly gained some time. Klaas and Ted were at the front working to keep it in check along with a couple other teams who weren’t represented in the break. I stayed out of the wind as much as possible. Ted tried to bridge at one point and was in “no man’s land” for a while. At first I thought, “Go Ted!”, but once he stopped gaining and was dangling in front of the main field, I wished I had a radio to tell him to stop it and drop back! When we finally caught Ted, the breakaway was still up the road. But a bridge attempt came from Rob which stirred things up a bit. It was a flurry of attacks in the field which eventually led to the breakaway’s capture.
At some point during this action, there was a split in the field and I was in front of it! Unfortunately, I was the only one on my team that made it and each of the three other local teams had at least two riders in it. So I knew I shouldn’t work too much. I did pull throughout of obligation but as we went over the rollers I could feel that my legs were getting tired. I wanted to save something for the final 5k because I knew how hard it was going to be. Justin attacked and got a good gap. His team still had two guys in this group so it was the other riders who needed to chase. The chase turned into a series of attacks and I was redlined just trying to respond to them. With about 3K to go Matt attacked and I knew that was it. I just tried to hang on to the guys I was with and was in survival mode. I hung with that group to the line and ended up 5th.
Ted ended up 15th and Klaas 22nd. It was a tough race but with only three riders I think we rode well as a team.