Racing at Sequim

Yesterday I raced at Sequim with one of my teammates. It was a large field, seemed like about 40 riders which is huge compared to the 9 riders we had just a few years ago. It was nice to sit in the draft of the field. It made it much easier compared to a race with 9 riders and no breaks from the wind.

The race was controlled by the larger teams; Group Health, KR, and HB. There were a few breaks on the first lap that didn't go far and then one with all three major teams represented and both my teammate and I weren't in good positions to go with it. My teammate got very close to bridging up but didn't quite make it. The break must have been riding pretty hard because some of the riders ended up coming back to the pack. I went to the front to help the Bike Sale team pull it back but the Group Health team joined in the paceline to slow it down. Too bad because I thought we could have pulled it back. There were several attempts by riders from teams in the break and not in the break to get something else going up the road but none could escape the pack. We ended up with a pack sprint and I found that I didn't have the power to keep up in the last 200 meters and rolled in near the back. Looks like I need to build some power before track starts up!

Today I did an easy ride with teammates. I got flat on my brand new rear tire. It was easy to change though and I was glad it didn't happen during the race.