If you noticed one thing, I hope it was the aggressive nature of the racing. For whatever reason, the number of surges and attacks seems nonstop at times. Now factor in the nasty wind. Riding at 28mph on every straight, there's no easy way out. It's gonna hurt no matter what.
Well, that's exactly how Sunday went. It hurt plain and simple. At the start of the race, I rode near the front and covered the first two moves in the opening couple of laps. After the second move was reeled in, I eased up thinking the peloton wasn't in any mood to let anything go...not to mention I was hurting a fair bit. And just then it went, attack #3 stuck and I watched it slide off the front. Initially I wasn't worried because I figured we'd run them down soon enough. I couldn't have been any more wrong. The move was greeted with a lot of looking around and hesitation. A few of people tried to get to work on the chase as the gap stretched at an alarming rate. About 4-5 of us started trying to work but gaps kept opening and the chase kept falling apart. It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on. Then it was all crystal clear. Two riders from MangeSeed were screwing us every time we got organized. They would get in the line and then let the gap open to the guy or two on the front. OK, well now I know they clearly have a rider up the road! We worked as best we could to keep things moving but after 4 or 5 laps of this with the break now out of sight, it was apparent our race was over. None the less we kept trying and they kept disrupting anything and everything, unfortunately there simply weren't enough guys working to overcome them. I gave up the chase and drifted toward the back to rest up in hopes of ditching some of these losers and slackers with a break attempt closer to the end of the race. There's no better time to try moves you might ordinarily not try than from the second group with no chance of winning. The back offered an interesting vantage point and at times the racing in our group was down right pathetic. After 13 laps on the 2.3 mile circuit, the organizer shifted us onto the shorter 1.6 mile triangle circuit using another one of the runways. This runway is beat to hell and easily the worst of the bunch. It took a couple laps for the guys to find the smoother pavement so we took a little of a beating. We were slated for 9 short laps to finish the race. With around 6 or 7 laps to go, I moved up to the front just as things started heating up. I was keeping an eye on the strong guys who attempted to work and noticed many of them back on the front. I guess my idea wasn't so original haha! I watched one attack go, counted the strong guys, and let them open a reasonable gap then I attacked hard and bridged up rather quickly. I only had the rotation of three riders to recover and then I was on the front. We quickly realized how hard getting away was going to be when we hit the short course runway directly into a strong headwind. We slogged our way down the runway but the peloton wasn't having any of it and managed to organize a chase and shut us down. A lap later, one of the riders in the first break attempt went hard again and I jumped. We dragged out another strong rider but it ended in a similar fate with the peloton shutting us down on the headwind stretch. The next lap, another attack went with a Kissena guy and then shortly after, his teammate bridged up. This was the move I wanted but I was patient, I wanted to see the peloton's reaction. Everyone seemed gassed. Sure I was tired, hurting, and cross eyed at times but I wanted out of this group so badly. I jumped hard again and swung wide left to ensure a delay in anyone thinking about grabbing my wheel. I was clear and closing on the break. I hit the back and rotated through to the front with little rest. Everything was hurting and my lungs and legs felt like lead. I hammered the front with all I had for my pull and rotated off. We were working well together and managed to stretch this break a little longer but unfortunately the peloton wasn't letting anything go this close to the end. Groupo Compacto. I drifted toward the middle of the pack to get a little shelter and recover. Just about then, the break lapped us. The short course switch didn't help but ultimately it was the peloton's lack of ability to work together that brought this result, see my comment about the pathetic racing above. Unfortunately some idiots decided to mix in and not let the break rightfully go. Several of the guys in the break attacked to get away and I think 2 or 3 made the escape. The rest were stuck. On the next to last lap, there was a big attack by several strong guys (from the peloton) and this time I jumped immediately. Unfortunately we only made it to the start/finish line for the last lap before the move was shut down. I slid into the pack which now seemed much smaller than I recall. Apparently all the attacks were doing some good in that they spit several out the back. As we turned off the front straightaway, I was gassed and slipped off the back. I watched the gap open but couldn't summon the strength to do anything about it. And then the gap seemed to stabilize. I looked back and could see a third group of rider we had shed over the previous laps. I looked down, dug deep, and jumped out of the saddle. I had no idea what was left but I knew I needed to dig. I simply didn't want to face the short course runway alone into the headwind haha! Plus, I really didn't want to finish off the back of another race...I had worked too hard this time to let that happen. My legs burned and it felt like I could hardly breathe. After a few seconds I looked up and the gap was shrinking. Focus, keep digging...this isn't over yet. Can't stop, won't stop (credit to pro Adam Myerson for that great saying). I hammered my legs harder than I knew I could, looked up, and realized I was almost there. I lined the corner up perfect and ripped it with a clean line not shedding one iota of speed. Exiting the corner onto headwind hell straightaway I rolled up onto the last wheel. I had maybe a minute to try to recover for the finishing sprint. Unfortunately riding that stretch offered little recovery due to the beat up pavement and the sheer pace of the peloton. All I could think was it's almost over. I kept digging...recovering is a bitch when your churning out 300 some watts! We turned onto the finishing stretch and there was an immediate acceleration as one guy went straight out of the corner. I waited it out, not entirely interested in the finishing sprint for MAYBE top 20? None the less, I kicked late from around mid-pack which was now really stretched out. The front guys had already opened their sprint and were clear. I managed to pick off numerous riders who went early, crossed the line and collapsed on the bars. The funny thing is I would later find out that I finished 12th in the race. Amazingly the officials managed to pick through the finishing video and get the results properly sorted out. Cracking the top ten in a Floyd 1/2/3 race is a very respectable accomplishment considering the strongmen who routinely put everyone else in their place. Apparently when the break mixed with the peloton, I didn't realize that all the attacks had shredded the peloton. If I had only realized, I could have likely broken the top ten. My first finish with the pack since getting hit and nearly cracking the top ten at that. I think I'm finally getting back to being competitive...finally.
After the race, we discussed the breakdown of the race with Phil from Team BH. Phil is one of those strong men who makes this race great...and very tough. He told me "You have to go with every move at the start until the right one stays away. Sure, it hurts but you just have to ride through it." I guess I now have my strategy for my next Floyd. Wait a second, why do I want to get into a break with the hard men of Floyd? Haha, some things never change. Oh, one more thing...this is what is meant by Floyd being "very dirty":
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