Superweek race #1

After taking a break from racing to rest up and rebuild my form, i have taken the short trip over to superweek in Wisconsin to get some good hard races under my belt. I need to get some more big race experience and this place is full of it for a few weeks in a row. i will be here for 9 days and will see how i match up against some of the best riders in the country and the world. My first crit was in Manitouoc on a flat .7 mile 4 corner course. With most of the US domestic pro teams have some representation and some euro teams including Team Milram, it looked to be a pretty tough race. I felt absolutly terrible for the first hour and even considered abandoning. After a while i worked my up to the front and followed some wheels and found myself in a break. I decided to work a little just to see how i would feel and to my suprise the harder i went the better i felt. We stayed out front for about 6 laps or so and got brought back. I settled in the front and finally got into a good rythym in the race. A few laps later, a break containing Ben Jaques Maynes, his teammate, Brice Jones of Jelly Belly and 2 Milram riders attacked up the left side. They got a small gap and i waited patiently for the right moment for the field to lull and I launched off the front and crossed solo to them in about a half lap. I was pretty excited about the move. My coach told me that one of my best weapons would be my ability to use my speed and a well timed move to bridge gaps. This has worked well for me this year in local races and collegiate but this was the first time i tried to do it in a national calliber race. i was pretty excited to make the move. Once in the break i work but fairly conservativley considering my company and i felt they could attack and drop me any moment. We built up a gap of almost 30 seconds. We came through the start finish and got a prime bell for $500.00. I felt i was having a pretty good sprinting day and decided i would go for it. I went straight to the back and refused to pull for the lap. I fought for last wheel until the last corner and gapped myself off the back and built up a head of steam and sling shot past them all, or so i though. One of the milram riders caught my wheel and just when i thought i was home free for the big payoff, he jumped around me almost effortlessly and took the prime. I was pretty bummed out. I felt i made a pretty good move, but he was definalty smarted and faster than me. But hey, is a pro tour rider so what do i expect. We got brought back with about 5 laps to go and i fought hard to stay near the front. I avoided crashes but didn't quite have enough to keep myself in the top end and finished somewhere in the 50's. Overall i was very satisfied, i felt competeative near the end and was active. There is still some good racing to come. Thanks for reading.