Tour of Terra Cotta

My first race back after my stint in Quebec which served as just a fun ride in the middle of a 2 and a half week break from riding. My goal was the same as it is for every race, be vigilant and be prepared to use some matches getting in the winning break whenever it may come. We started on this incredibly hot day at the worst possible hour in a seemingly shadeless course where the first 300m were neutral behind a Ferrari. Of course when the lead car is a Ferrari the neutral pace may end up being a little quick and so it was as we were strung out going into the first climb and I was about 15 wheels back. Once a top the climb I noticed a 50m gap to a group of 3 containing Ed Veal, a team mate of his and one other and decided that this was the winning break so I sprinted across with 3 riders who followed my initial move and we all worked hard establishing ourselves but the bulk was done by Ed and a member of the Hamilton Club (who I later found out is South African U23 MTB Champion here to train). We did the same rotation with Ed, South African, Peter Morse and Anton Varabei doing constant work, Z-Team Rider, Myself doing one of every 3 pulls or so and an U23 rider from Ottawa and Jet Fuel rider sitting on and doing no work. Ed would occasionally yell at us to work and I found an in between where  I did enough work to not feel like a jerk. A little past the mid way point of the race Ed finally attacked us and formed a group of 5 that myself, the Z Team rider and the Ottawa rider where not able to keep up with. This was when I realised that it would of been better for me to do no work while I was in that winning break. I fell back to the main group, cooked and I managed to hold on as it splintered over the course of each lap and then sprinted to finish 2nd in the pack which meant a 15th overall. The entire 2nd half of the race was a battle between myself and the Massicotte brothers who were working to set up Jason to win the Junior Category in which we were both still in contention for. I did end up beating him, mostly thanks to an also cooked Nathan Chown bridging a small gap I let open up. I was a little sad to find out later though that my category for the race was actually Juniors............and first year U23s. So I got third when I was expecting first but no problem I still had a good time.

Provincial Road Race at home in Niagara tomorrow then I start to really train again, come out and watch, it will be a stellar day.