Hincapie Spring Series Weekend 3 Donaldson

Yesterday was the final Donaldson Center Circuit Race of the Greenville Spring Series. It was a 56 mile race with stronger winds than I have ever experienced out at Donaldson. Palmetto State Medical fielded a team of Justin Meade, Parker Kyzer, Matt Moosa, Ben Renkema, Chris Meacham, and myself. The plan for the day was win the race but to help Moosa win the overall.

The race started off fast from the gun with Mac Brennan of Holowesko launching an attack in the tailwind start. It is smart to attack in tailwinds because draft doesn't help very much in tailwinds. That attack strung out the field for the first few miles, but Parker, Meacham, and Meade were able to neutralize this attack. After this we worked well throughout the crosswind section and to neutralize other attacks. Once again Mac attacked, and he stayed out there for a lap as Parker, Meade, Meacham, and I helped to neutralize him. After we brought Mac back we regrouped to try to get our other teammates up with us to help neutralize the field for Moose. Shortly after Mac was brought back Brendan Rhim attacked with Ian Garrison of Axeon. Parker, Justin, and I shortly got on the front to keep this attack at bay. We also had help from Meacham and Ben at times. We kept the gap to  around 15-20 seconds for a while, but Mac attacked at one point screwing up our chase. This cracked Meade and made the gap grow to around 30 seconds, but Parker and I quickly resumed our pace up front minimizing the damage. We just kept chugging along and keeping the gap close for Moose. We also reduced the size of the peloton to about 8 riders with all this pulling through the crosswinds. With about 16 miles to go in a crosswind Ben Wolfe of Jelly Belly attacked, and this obliterated what could be called the field, and this was also the end of me and Parker. We did our jobs and were proud of ourselves. I tried to keep going and kept the peloton at around 20 seconds for a while but I never came back to them. I still hung on for 9th place, and that shows how obliterated the field was. Up front Ben was able to make the split of 6 guys with Moose. These 6 riders ended up catching Rhim and Ian, but Rhim was on a really strong day and took the win. Moose was able to take third place.

Parker and me crushing the peloton

This race was a really great show of teamwork. We had a job to do, which was the hardest job, and we got it done. We didn't when the race, but Moose now sits only two points behind Ben Wolfe in the omnium. Today we have a criterium in Hendersonville and will do our best get the win and the omnium win.