Johnson City RR and TT

Yesterday Oliver, Jonah, and I raced the Johnson City Road Race. The race took place on a rolling course and finished up a 7 mile climb. We had Jonah control the race and cover early moves. He did a super job because no move was able to get significant a gap. This allowed Oliver and I to sit in all day long. With roughly 30 miles to go Oliver followed a couple guys, and this put me in a nice position for the end of the race. Oliver's break build up a gap relatively quickly and arrived at the base of the climb with a 3 minute lead. At the bottom Oliver dropped his break mates and soloed to the finish line. With Oliver up the road I was able to follow other riders up the hill. I would randomly attack to try to get away and wear down the guys I was with. By the finish we caught both the riders who started the climb with Oliver. I was only with Sean Gardner of Kelly amateur team, and I outsprinted him to take second place. This was a really fun race because tactically we rode perfectly and took 1st and second place.

The TT took place on a 3.2 mile rolling course. This TT is always tough because you have the road race from the morning in your legs already. I gave it all I had and came away with second place to Jonathan Freter of Astellas. He put in a stellar ride. I am leading the GC heading into the crit today. Oliver is sitting in third, so we have a strong position for the overall.

USPRO National Road Race

Yesterday was the USPRO National Road Race Championship. It was held over 12 laps on a technical and rolling circuit in Winston-Salem, NC. We knew it would be a race of attrition and we would have to save bullets for the end of the race. However, we knew that we would have to send guys in breakaways to take pressure off of our team. For the first few laps Oliver, Barry, Bryan, and myself did a good job covering attacks. That helped put Bryan into the main break of the day. Barry got himself into a chase group as well. Getting into those breaks is tough work and really taxes the legs for later in the race. After the break rolled the pace settled for a couple laps, but then Danny Pate of Rally flatted out of the break. This caused Rally to set a relentless pace on the front to drag the break back. It was at this point that I paid a price for following the early moves and came off with about 4.5 laps to go. The finale of the race looked crazy with a lot of attacks. At the end of the day we had Chad Beyer take 4th place. He was so close to the podium! I think he did a super ride, and we worked very well as a team to get him there. Today we race the Winston-Salem Classic Criterium.

Joe Martin Stage Race Stage 4

Today was the final day of the Joe Martin Stage Race. It was a 33 lap criterium on a tough course in downtown Fayetteville. There were points and time bonuses up for grabs every 10 laps and at the finish. That left the GC wide open. The pace started off fast from the gun as Silber controlled the pace until the first points sprint. After the sprint the pace slowed and a breakaway slipped away. At this point United Healthcare took the front and controlled the pace. Shortly after this Evan took a flyer but was reeled back in by UHC. The pace was slow up the hill, but we hammered the downhill. This made it difficult to get into a good position. I never got into a good rhythm to see the front of the race.  With about 6 laps to go we were breathing down the necks of the break and the pace quickened. A rider popped on the downhill a couple wheels in front of me and opened a gap. It took a few laps but with 3 to go me, Evan, and Bryan regained contact with the field. Evan and I popped the next lap while Bryan was able to finish in the field. It was a really tough day and I didn't perform as well as I expect of myself. On a positive note I got in some good racing at the Joe Martin Stage Race.