The course is run in a park, is .6 miles long and has a block long climb. Doug Klausen and Iowa Ortho do a great job with this venue and race. Very well organized. I am glad to get to race in Pella, a nice little town.
To the race, 40 laps which equated to 24 miles or so for the race. We completed the race in 56 minutes, so I'm figuring 25-26mph average for the race? Chris Reed, Ian Robinson, Kelly Steele, Karl Rosenburg and myself started the race. B2U had 5 guns to throw off, All9 with a contingent, Mercy with a few guys and the Deathsquad with some killers.
Right from the gun, Hansen went to the front and drove the pace. After a few laps and some small attacks the first of the breaks went. 4 guys went up the road including Karl Rosenburg. This was nice, no B2U guy was present. Moritz went to the front and drilled it for about 4 laps by himself to bring it back, while I bided my time just blocking on his wheel. I figured this was a great position, with no B2U guy in the break. All9 had Jerome, DeathSquad with Kris K, and Brian West from Colorbiotics off the front. But this wasn't good enough, Andrew F. put in a big acceleration which I wasn't able to get onto and he and Adam Price were able to get to the front of the break. This break soon disappeared up the road as all our teams were blocking other teams. With about 7 laps to go, it showed that the break was going to lap us. Not wanting Andrew to have Will and Bryan to help lead him out, I punched the gas a couple times and took Pig with me, but we weren't going anywhere. The break soon caught us and the leaders went to the front. I got up there and tried to lay down a fast pace so none of them would attack, and tried to keep Karl in good position. Moritz took a leadout role with 2 to go and I wasn't thinking enough to go up beside him to take Karl with me, but Karl was heads up and was already up there. Last lap, I was able to be Top 8 or so on the hill, and sprinted to 6th place I think in the sprint. I got 8th overall as Steve Robo sprinted in ahead of me, plus the 6 a lap up on us. Karl ended up with 3rd place, just getting nipped by Price, while Andrew won the race.
I had a great time in this race today. Everyone did a great job to make it a good/high paced race. I believe I am done riding on the road for the year. Have to get back up to school and start swimming. Thanks to B2U, All9, Mercy, ColorBiotics, and all other teams who I was able to race with for a great season! I look forward to seeing you all in the spring.
Next week is the 24 hours of Boone, which I am doing in a 4 man team. Should be a fun race, for my first mtb race ever! HA!
Other notable results today. Mack Sheldrup, 2nd in Juniors
Chris Eastburn, 2nd in 50+ and 3rd in 40+
Awesome job to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment