Richton Park Blitzkrieg

Another great day of racing in Chicagoland, as the temperature was mild and the pace was hot for another 100k of bike racing. A few new faces showed up to the race including a few Team Type 1, Texas Roadhouse,Locos, and the return of the Kelly Benefits riders. Rock Racing was still in control of the race, as they had both the red (sprint)and yellow (overall leader) jerseys sitting on the shoulders of Rahsaan Bahati and Sterling Magnell, respectively.

The race started off faster than a blitzkrieg,as we averaged 412 watts for the first 15 minutes. After settling into a steady rhythm we began to become more comfortable in the peloton as we acclimated to the course. Unfortunately, Oscar suffered from a flat tire and he was questioning his gear, as a mysterious creak appeared before the race. The pace is so high that there is no room to question yourself or your equipment because once you start second guessing things, your race is nearly over. Just backing off a fraction in the corners can spell disaster as the small gap quickly multiplies in the straights. After a few laps of yo-yoing even the best riders can suffer defeat. He was not able to shake his worries and consequently had to pull out of the race, the last thing he wanted to do.

Before the race Jafer had to visit the Sram service pit a consequent of yesterday's slid out. He didn't know it but the rider that fell into him had severely torqued his rear wheel and it took about 10 minutes to true the wheel. When he got back to the car he put on a new Panaracer Stradius Extreme tire and tube on the rear. It is truly amazing what a difference a new tire can make in the corners! Instead of sliding out, he regained total confidence in his cornering abilities. For most of the race Thomas and Jafer rode near each other towards the back end of the field while Joey was very attentive at the front. Jafer kept trying to move up as he felt really good but everytime he tried the pack seemed to swarm, preventing him from advancing. Finally, he had a chance to get up to the front when the field was single file and hoped to try and get in a break. He made a few hard pulls/attacks hoping that he could get a gap with a few riders to no avail. After his daring effort he quickly suffered the consequences as the pace drastically picked up a few moments later as the field was reeling in a serious breakaway. After a few laps of floating back, he found himself at the tail end of the field in danger of getting caught behind gapped riders. With 25 laps to go he became gapped after the riders in front pulled the plug on their race but he continued to chase eventually pulling out with 20 laps to go.

Meanwhile, Thomas was making his way towards the front where Joey was actively covering moves. An 8 man break went up the road eventually lapping the field before the closing laps. The pace once again picked up in the last 3 laps as the teams were starting to setup for the win. Thomas and Joey seemed to be holding good position but in the final sprint became caught behind other riders, finishing slightly out of the top 30.

The first 15 minutes of the race:

The race until I dropped out. Notice the large peak towards the end and then drop in power, thats where I got in trouble!

Power tap ridden by Jafer