You have to start your season somewhere and after having so many races cancelled I was itching to get out there. With spring finally showing it's head and 60 degree temperatures forecasted the William and Mary Tidewater Classic seemed like as good a place as any. My little training group of Curtis Winsor and Chris Jones were in for the weekend so we had a nice little contingent of Kelly Benefit Strategies for the race. It was awesome to have these guys along and get an early season effort in with such close friends, makes it an easy transition. It was great to have them around and I was luck enough to have my college buddy Will make it over for the race in his backyard. It never hurts to have a good heckle crew as you're ripping around the course.
We had a brief team meeting before the race and made some simple game plan, a first for me since I haven't raced for a road team before. With the small field we assumed there was a high likelihood of a small break going of about 5 guys and we thought that would suit us really well. If not, we'd practice our leadouts and get a ton of benefit from that. We also considered attacking early or just sitting back and responding since we thought we would be a marked team.
Right after the neutral rollout Curtis attacked. We didn't come here to get pushed around and it immediately took the pressure off of Chris and I in our first race back. Curtis actually opened up a good sized gap solo off the front, a couple more guys joined him but then the field decided that wasn't going to stick. Shortly after bringing him back Chris followed the next move, it lasted about 15 seconds. As that move was caught the field eased way back and Tim Mullins (Carytown Bikes) had momentum and hit the front with speed, I jumped out of the group, got yelled at for a yellow line violation (there was no yellow line, and I thought I was fiine) but caught his wheel. Off we went, quickly joined by Jordon Cook (Bon Securs). Looking around and realizing these were the only 3 major teams in the race I laughed at how easy that might have been. Sure enough off we went, within a lap we were out 1:30.
Right after the neutral rollout Curtis attacked. We didn't come here to get pushed around and it immediately took the pressure off of Chris and I in our first race back. Curtis actually opened up a good sized gap solo off the front, a couple more guys joined him but then the field decided that wasn't going to stick. Shortly after bringing him back Chris followed the next move, it lasted about 15 seconds. As that move was caught the field eased way back and Tim Mullins (Carytown Bikes) had momentum and hit the front with speed, I jumped out of the group, got yelled at for a yellow line violation (there was no yellow line, and I thought I was fiine) but caught his wheel. Off we went, quickly joined by Jordon Cook (Bon Securs). Looking around and realizing these were the only 3 major teams in the race I laughed at how easy that might have been. Sure enough off we went, within a lap we were out 1:30.
The lead grew to 3:00 as Chris and Curtis controlled the peloton. While I'm not sure what exactly happened it seemed like it played out like this. Dan King talked smack about how his team was for sure going to win and that Chris or Curtis probably needed to bring the break back. I don't know Dan well, but if I've learned anything from Mark King it's that the King family can talk smack and are always looking to tilt the race in their favor. Mike Stoop and Chris traded blows back and forth to no real avail. Chris had the hard job in the race and did it perfectly. The laps continued to tick off at a slightly slowing rate until we finally made it to a lap to go with a chase group 2:00 back and the field 4:00 behind, all but guaranteeing we would get to the line as a group of three. It was time to consider how I was going to get away from this group. The nice thing about having Curtis on your team is he makes sure you are prepared and ready for the race. We each talked about how we would win if we were in a break of 5 and spoke about an alternative option if it was needed. So at this point it was all about following the plan.
At 4K to go Jordan rounded the 2nd to last turn on the course and I jumped immideatly out of the corner. With a little gap I just smashed all the way to the line finishing off the work my teammates started for the 1st win of the year. The race couldn't have played out any closer to the original plan. It was great to put the racing legs back on and have such awesome teammates to share it with. It's going to be a good year ripping people's legs off with this group.
The only thing better than getting the win for these guys was the Alamo BBQ Texas Trainwreck I had for dinner. Next up is our team's spring camp and then up to the first major team race of the year at Philly Phlyer, then Jeff Cup right in my backyard. So here it goes, I guess it's time to race. Couldn't be more excited.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
The only thing better than getting the win for these guys was the Alamo BBQ Texas Trainwreck I had for dinner. Next up is our team's spring camp and then up to the first major team race of the year at Philly Phlyer, then Jeff Cup right in my backyard. So here it goes, I guess it's time to race. Couldn't be more excited.
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow