Well it's been a while since last posting!
Lots has been going on in life & in cycling since my last post.
Our team Aerobic Power Haus folded late last year & me & the fellaz decided to race with Team Niklas for 2013.
Evan Bayer, Rob Leishman & myself all moved over to Niklas.
Leading into the weekend I was feeling the strongest I have ever been. I wasn't the lightest or most explosive but definitely feeling very powerful. The sharpness may not be there yet but it will come.
Road Race- 135km
First time since racing Velocity the Road Race came before the Time Trial. I knew this would make things interesting. We had preliminary plans to race conservatively & see how the race plays out. End of the first lap I rolled off the front seeing all the boys a bit tired. Soon I was joined by my trusty teammate Evan Bayer asking me if I wanted to go for it. I said hell ya & an ERTC rider Geoff Macdonald appeared in the break as well. The three of us rolled into a good pace not really killing ourselves but keeping it steady. We fully expected a few riders maybe Schooler or Krabbe to come across. We didn't know how Auld or Andrews were form wise but thought they may come across if we kept it steady & put time into the group. We had about a minute on the group rolling the break for approx 20km but then were reeled in nearing the end of the second lap. All good, Counter attacks came like crazy & I made sure I stayed in the mix. At one point when the group brought us back we only had 12 riders when over 30 started. Holy shit it was pretty fast I guess. ERTC launched Krabbe off the front, Dan wood off the front & they were making things very aggressive. I tried jumping on trains again but nothing stuck & Evan & I chilled out starting the 5th lap. We were chillin past mid pack when I was giving Evan some water & we turned onto the tail cross wind section & the pace got real. Kicking ourselves as we should of known this would happen we found ourselves scrambling trying to grab wheels. The remaining peloton blew into 3 groups & I ended up in the third with Jensen, Young, Countryman & Jeff Perron for a while I believe. Evan was between us & the chase group whom were chasing the lead group. I watched Evan chase the damn group in front of us solo for almost an entire lap until the chase group caught the lead group & Evan latched on. What a stud. I suffered in the cross wind & watched the race unfold up front. More lessons on saving my newly acquired additional matches for Cat 2. Even if you have more matches & use them all you will not end up in the lead group. Good lessons for Jevro. I ended up 13th I believe & Evan ended up 5th. Brett flatted early in the race so he was not able to race the crit but could throw down in the TT.
Time Trial-
I was shattered & emptied my tank completely on the race course. Some were saying the race course was short that's all good I felt it was windier than the longer course last year. Anyhow I finished mid pack in the field which I kind of expected as I was nowhere near 100% after the road race especially being turbo aggressive. Turns out Bad Boy Bayer won the damn thing which I didn`t really anticipate. I knew he was strong but the guy keeps surprising me with how damn strong he actually is.
Crit-
Evan winning the time trial put him into first place overall which scared the shit out of me. The reason this was intimidating is Evan only has 1 year of racing under his belt & the last Cat 2 crit he did was TDB of last year & it didn`t go well. Let`s say I was worried about the corners so I had a game plan. The plan was to warm up a lot & blow my brains out for the first half of the race trying to keep it tempo on the flats to nullify breakaways & slow the corners down for E rocker. Well thats what I did & I think it helped. I sprinted at the beginning of the crit to get to the front & control the first few corners & light up the flats. I was absolutely pinned for two laps on the front bringing a few solo attacks back & keeping it lined out as much as possible. Soon enough the ERTC boys started launching attacks along with Johnstone & Schooler with H & R Block. It felt like a damn firestorm & I tried to reel what I could in. I ended up getting popped but then time trialed back on only to sling shot myself to the front & repeat my original plan once the gun went off. Tempo on the front & slow down the corners. I got popped again around the 15minute ish mark & tried time trialing again to latch back on. I chased for a lap but it was in vain as the train was gone & I was not making it back on. Haven`t had to sacrifice myself like that before but it`s all good especially when your trying to get your bro on the podium! Turns out Evan was doing just fine & launched an attack of his own to bridge to Josh Krabbe who already attacked off the front. They traded pulls for a bit & built an approx 18 second lead but Krabbe kept probing Evan into the corners which was irritating im sure. Evan rolled the front but got irritated with the corner probes & they got caught. Evan chased everything that went off the front back & protected his GC lead like a boss. Marc Enter with Speed theory sat in most of the race which was smart & attacked solo on the last lap to gap Evan enough to take over GC lead.
Pretty hard fought battle for only two teammates & glad to help keep bayer on the podium to finish in 2nd place overall.
Next up provincials.
All the best to the fellow Alberta Riders.
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