Brutal.
First two laps, I stayed up near the front and avoided whatever splits occurred in those nasty head and cross winds.
Going through the finishing climb at the end of the second lap, start of the third lap, pushed me over the edge though. Went right out the back. Couldn't catch back on. Looked back, saw a small chase group behind me. Sat up, rested and let them catch me.
The eight of us then worked together to produce the most beautifully executed rotating echelon ever to occur in a Elite 4 race. It was way pro.
Probably thought about quitting the race 100 times in the 11 minutes and 20 seconds it took us to latch back on. Glad I persevered though. Catching back up was extremely satisfying.
Managed to stay with the pack for another 18 miles, until the start of the last lap. Got dropped again on that damn little finishing climb.
Anyway, overall happy with the race. Thought I played it fairly smart and it was a hell of a training effort. I'm only a month into doing mostly FTP, little or no VO2 max, so I'm not too worried about my fitness being a little sub par for the race. I started my season too early last year and got burnt out early. Trying to avoid that again.
Here is a random photo of the race that I snagged off FB:
That's coming down from the finishing climb.
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