Race Report catch-up

I am a bit behind on my race reports and this post will most likely be long and boring. Just bare with me:

3de MEMORIAL NOEL SOETAERT (14/6) - 1.12IC
1st time the race was held and 15km or so away so we rode there. And it was another flat, turny race with a 12km loop done 12 times. It rained a bit...okay a lot. Which made racing fun and there were some tricky sections. One time I went around a turn and guys slammed the brakes..therefore I lock my brakes up. I am completly sideways drifting through the turn as if I was racing a Porsche 911...I even did a bit of growling to make it sound like I had an engine. Anywho, as I am sliding toward the concrete wall of death (yes there was a concrete wall on this turn) a rider compelty t-bones me...and falls over. I am fine and managed to keep it up right as I hear all kinds of carnage behind. 1 point for David, 0 points for all the Belgians behind me. As I moved up through the field...one of the Cycling Center guys (another American team) asked me what happened to the field as we both looked back. I tried unsuccessfully without laughing and said "I guess they got gapped in the crosswind". Well most of them caught back on and it was gonna be a fun field sprint! I managed to move up for the sprint with Matt Brandt (our sprinter that day). Keep in mind it is rainy, windy, and on these small roads that a golf cart cant fit on. We went around a corner with 2km to go and two guys sandwiched Matt and he went down and I just sat up and finished 69th in the field. Averaged 46kmph and did 95km for the first two hours. I think I shifted once the whole race. We rode back and got in 180km that day.

ROMSEE - STAVELOT - ROMSEE (17/6) - 1.12IC
Back in the Ardennes! Last time in Tryptique I got beat up on pretty good but I could feel my form coming back. We got lost on our way to the start and showed up with 25mins before the start. Scrambled to get everything organized, pin #'s on, sign-in, pre-race rituals, etc. Guy East, Max Jenkins (u23 national champ), Chris Butler (teammate back home), Matt Brandt, Christian Parrett, Jason Short, Chris Montelone, and myself was the roster for the race under Noel. The race had 11 climbs ranging from 1-5km in lenght and varied with gradient. The first couple of climbs I felt very inconsistent: either having a green moment or my red bars filled up a little too fast (gotta love cycling manager). 55km in the race blew apart. I made the front group. 40 of us were together and a 10 man break up the road holding a 1-2min gap. Everybody had 3-4teammates in the break while I got stuck by myself With 60km our group split into two and I was caught in the 2nd half 30 secs down. I attacked over an overpass and bridged most of the gap on the flats and the last bit on a climb. Then with 20km to go we entered the circuits. But to get to the circuits we had to do a 3km climb. I had a really bad moment. Red lights flashing everywhere...trying to grab wheel...almost at top...most close gap. I got tailed off just at the top and got f*cked by the cars as they drove right past me (thx assholes). The circuits were a 3x8k loop with a 1km climb to the finish. I found a small chase group and just finished in there. But hey it was an awesome experience being in the sharp-end of the race with some pretty legit guys. I think the guy who won was the only guy from the break who stayed away. May be I could have gotten Top 15 had a little better tactical mind and didnt have a red moment on that 3km climb. But hey it was all good and now my form is starting to show up. It was an awesome race and 48 riders finished out of the 186 who started.

Next races:
21/6-22/6 - TOUR DE MAREUIL - FRA - 2.13IC
24/6 - GELUWE - BEL - 1.12IC
29/6 - DINANT - BEL - 1.12IC

David