My Brother and I turned into the old Juice factory parking lot around 11:20 which left lots of time to sort out our gear and say Hi to lots of friends. It was a really great turn out and it appears to be getting bigger and bigger each year. Awesome to see!
After TT laid out the ground rules we set off at a nice and casual 25-27km/hr pace whcih lasts for the entire first 30k (85k total), this gives everyone time to see how everyone's Winters has been and to scope out who's been training and who's been slacking (Lamb...) O I mean studying or something...
15K into the ride nature was calling so I pulled off to the side of the road, when I got back on my bike I noticed a little guy hammering for all he's worth (I think with his Dad following in the car behind?) so I pulled up next to him and told him to hang on, soon we were doing well over 30KM/Hr and starting to catch back up to the group. I gave him a little push when we got close to a stop and asked his Dad if he was supposed to be riding in the group and he said "He's trying" ha, that was enough for me, we got around the corner and I started pushing him back to the group again. a K later we got back on. It's so great to see these young kids comming out and getting active cycling, they are our future and I'm glad he had a great time. Maybe in another 10 years he'll be pushing me up the hills! After Roubaix was done he came up and shook my hand and thanked me for the push! What a guy!! Giver Jeremy!!
With the 30K mark soon approaching I can see the right hand turn onto the start of chaos, lamb pretending to attack was the first to hit the dirt, as soon as my wheels got onto the gravel I dropped the hammer. Full out carnage and I was loving every second of it. As I got 1/2 down the first dirt section I looked back to see none other than Mr Lamb and we had a decent gap back to the pack, I soon asked him to come around for a pull but he was having none of it and soon the group was back on us. So I sat on front and soft pedaled for a few moments, it seemed as if everyone was happy to take a breather because there was no counter attack. Everyone just sat up. After about 20 seconds I was good to go so I shifted down a couple and was full gas again, this time with Lamb and Lazza on my wheel, we were nearing the end of the first dirt section and I again asked for the guys to come through, they looked like they were huritng and by the time we got to the end of the 1st dirt section we were all back together again. This time a counter attack went, but didn't seem 100% commited and it all came back together again.
I was content to recover a bit in the group so for the next few K I just sat in and enjoyed the ride, a few guys took off here and there but nothing was really sticking. I saw Dustin starting to move up as we were on some rough pave and soon heading into another dirt section I moved to the outside and got on his wheel and it was long after untill he put a good dig in on the dirt, with the strong crosswind and him riding as close as possible to the loose gravel on the road no one was able to get a draft and he split the group. We had 4-5 of us taking some turns but slowely more people were starting to get back on and again the guys didn't seem very committeed so as I was comming through for my next pull I put my head down and gave it another go aloone. I looked back and seen I had a good gap.
This time it stuck, no one seemed to take control to reel me in, I got back on the pave and with the strong tailwind was in my biggest gear over 60Km/hr but soon turned left and was back in the wind, I took a quick look back to see if anyone was trying to bridge up to me and sure enough a rider from Lunenburg (Colin) was gaining on me, I knew with the wind that I could use the help so waited for him. As soon as he bridge up to me he wanted to head to the front and pull haha, I told him to take a breather and let me take the 1st pull. I took another look back as I moved behind colin and I could see Simms in the distance and almost waited for him, but I knew the group really wasn't to far behind him and if we had of waited and been back in the group sights I think they would have made short work of our efforts. Sorry Simms! :P
It wasn't long working with Colin till I felt his efforts on the front, usually I can recover very well riding behind another guy but he is so strong on the flats and descents that it felt like I was still on the front. Everytime we went uphill I was thankfull because I could finally get a breather.
We rode together for a good 20K and finally hit a dirt section with a pretty steep climb and this is where Colin started suffering, I crested the top and looked back and seen Colin was still quite a ways down on the climb so foolishly I decided to head on alone. It wasn't too long after when I looked back and seen Colin comming back again so I sat up and waited for him to get on and we started working again. We hit another climb and again he was falling behind so I took off again.
Garette and Dustin had attacked the group up that same dirt climb and managed to reel in Colin a short while later, the 3 of them worked together and were quickly making ground on me, they must have dropped Colin on another climb, when they came by me I was mid climb myself and they didn't want me to be any part of it. They pretty much blew past me like I was standing still. But they were now racing each other and no longer working together because they were out front so this played to my adventage and slowely I started to claw back some ground. It wasn't a couple K later till we hit a descent and I managed to bridge back up to them.
With less than 7-10K to go we started doing some lazy pulls, none of us wanted to work together and I knew come the next climb they would be looking to shell me and each other so as we approached one of the last climbs Garette tried to get away and I was glued to his wheel so he sat up and it wasn't a few seconds later Dustin countered, this is where I made a mistake. I thought Garette had the legs to reel Dustin back in, but as I found out later he had the flu last week and I think he might have still been recovering, either way I had the legs and should have jumped onto Dustin's wheel but didn't and by the time I started making some efforts to reel in Dustin it was far too late. I could see him raising his arms in victory up ahead and then lanched my sprint for 2nd.
Overall I was happy with my effort, tried not to let the tatical error at the end of the race bother me too much and will learn from it. I was on the front nearly the entire time and my legs are responding well to the speed work I have been doing over the last month. I have the base miles to survive those long breakaway efforts and with a bit more speed in the legs I should suffer a tad less. My stomach was up in arms on the drive home, I don't think it liked that effort very much at all.
Thanks for the great ride guys! See you in Fredriction next week.
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