Nocatee Stage Race

This past weekend was the Nocatee Stage Race in Ponte Vedra, FL. It consisted of a 60mile road race, 5 mile tt, an 70 minute crit. The road race was supposed to be 10x6 mile laps on a flat course. It rained hard from start to finish. About 2 miles into the race Shawn Gravois and Drew Miller got off the front. The group didn't really seem to care and we did not start to go fast for about 2 laps. I planned on sitting in early and waiting late for any moves. I did not go with this early move because I figured it would be brought back. They built a gap of 1.5 minutes and it seemed to stay there for a long time. When we came through with 6 to go they told us it was 4 to go. I started to panick a little then because with 1.5 minutes at four laps to go it seemed like Shawn and Drew had a good chance to stay away to the finish. For the last 2 laps we tried very hard to bring back Shawn and Drew. They managed to stay away by about 15 seconds to the finish. They rode very well together and congratulations to them for staying off the front. I came in 7th in the group for ninth place.

The next event was the tt. I felt ok for the tt because I did not do too much work in the road race. I got in a good long warm up and got to the start about 5 minutes before my start time. I thought I would do ok in this tt but thought it favored Grant Potter. I took off for the first mile pretty conservatively and felt decent. By the second mile I was rolling good and pushed hard. I felt really great and with a kilometer to go felt pretty tired. I pushed on to the line and got a time of 10:11. I beat Grant Potter by 2 seconds. I was very happy with this win because this is my first pro 1,2 time trial win. I was also first in the overall after the tt.

The crit was about a 1 mile course that was straight then there were 2 90 degree right turns, a left, a long straight, 2 more rights, then a right to the finish. It was also pretty windy for our race. The race was 70 minutes plus 2 laps. I wanted to attack a lot in the wind and force a break to happen. After about 10 minutes of racing it was pretty tough and a split of about 15 riders formed. Every time the race got hard I would attack. I felt good and was countering myself. By 30 minutes into the race it was clear that no one was going to let me go off the front, so I stopped attacking and waited for the end. A few times Shane Braley went off the front and another rider went off for a few laps. I wanted to attack into the third to last turn and hold it from there to the line. Shane attacked with 2 laps to go and no one wanted to chase him. He stayed away for the wind. I tried to attack where I wanted to but got slowed down in traffic and 5 riders past me. I kept this position to the line and held on for the overall win by .1 seconds over Grant Potter. I am pretty pleased with this weekend because it was my first tt win and first GC win. In a week and a half I race again in Brookesville.

Tour de Tow

This past weekend I raced the Tour de Tow in Bartow, FL. The race consisted of two crits. Saturday night was a fast 4 turn crit and Sunday was a slower figure 8 course. I had Neal Shepherd as a teammate for both the races. It was his first weekend of racing pro 1,2 races, so he was pretty excited about these races. I felt very good on Saturday night and wanted to win. Since it was a fast course it was easy to move up or just sit in. It was very tough for a break to stick. At some points during the race it would get tough and I would attack and ride solo for 5 laps or so. At one point Jos Chalmers and I were off the front for about 10 or 15 laps. We were giving it our all but the field ended up bringing us back with about 10 minutes to go. Then another group looked promising with 5 laps to go but the field brought that one back as well. With 3 laps to go the bell was rung for a $100 prime. I attacked for that prime and ended up collecting it. I gave it my all in an effort to stay off the front for the end of the race. I was caught just before 1 lap to go. After I was caught the field past me. I was exhausted from my effort at the end and finished near the back of the race. I could have definitely gotten a better result if I sat in all day and waited for the sprint, but I had fun at this night race. Congratulations to Neal on finishing his first pro 1,2 race.

Sunday was a 60 minute race on a course shaped like a figure 8. I was a little less sharp on Sunday than I was on Saturday from all the attacks I did the night before. I told myself that I would be less aggressive than the night before. However, I told myself that if the race got dificult I would go in a break early in the race. After about 5 minutes of racing Derek Bennett went off the front. He had a gap of about 12'', so I attacked and bridged up to him. We quickly built up a gap of about 30''. We worked well together and the gap hovered around 30'' for most of the race. After about 45 or 50 minutes of racing the gap shot up to 50''. At this point it was obvious that our break would survive to the line. The sprint was long, uphill, and into a headwind, so I sat second wheel going into the last turn. Derek led out the sprint and I passed him with about 200 meters to go and held on for the win. It was very exciting to win a second race this year. Congratulations to Neal for finishing his second pro1,2 race. I would like to thank God for helping me to train well, stay healthy, and have the fitness to win races. I would like to thank my wife Sara for believing in me and giving me support. I would like to thank Coach Bob for believing in me and helping me to get proper training for my races. I would like to thank my parents for supporting me and driving me to races. I would also like to thank the Orlando Road Club for supporting me at races in Florida this year and also for the support I got from the club when I was younger.

Dothan Cityfest Criterium

The city of Dothan, Alabama put on a wonderful nighttime criterium last night. The course was about .7 miles long and had 4 ninety degree corners. From the start/finish straight the course was uphill until turn two. Then it went downhill into a fast and open turn three and slightly downhill into a slightly off-camber turn 4. Team Ion- United Healthcare fielded two riders at the race: Brian Hill and myself. We wanted to race hard, get into a breakaway, and try to win the race. The race was 40 laps in duration and the attacks started from the gun. Andy Crater was very aggressive. Brian and I made sure that either of us were in every split that happened. I was feeling good on this course. My Blue AC 1 and Industry Nine wheels were tracking amazingly through the fast turns. Many of the early splits were brought back by the many teams present and everyone was fresh. After about 15 laps I got up the road with Andy Crater, John Atkins, and Brian Toone. We managed to work very well together and quickly got a gap of 40 seconds on the field. During this time I was hydrating well with my Ion Competition energy drink and staying as fresh as possible. Brian Hill, my teammate, was doing an awesome job covering attacks in the field while I was off the front. As we were off the front for more and more time it became apparent that Andy and I were stronger than Brian and John. Andy rode hard up the hill but we could not shake Brian and John. With about 5 laps to go we lapped the field. At this point people in the break quit working and started to play around. No one wanted to be at the front. With half a lap to go I went fast into the downhill turn three and sprinted to turn 4. Andy Crater got by me before turn 4 and managed to take the win. I held on for second and John Atkins finished 3rd ahead of Brian Toone. In another split my teammate Brian Hill was beaten to the line by Emile Abraham, so Brian ended up 6th. Overall we had a good race and were happy about it. First I would like to thank God for giving me the fitness to race well and stay safe. I'd also like to thank my wife, my mom, and my sister for driving me to the race. I'd also like to thank the city of Dothan, Alabama for putting on a great race and my teammate Brian Hill for helping me out to my second place finish.