Allen Park

Every year at the Allen Park Crit there is a break, and this year was no exception. The break went away with 7 riders about 30 minutes into the race, and unfortunately I was not in it. Because the course was wide open and windy, it made so that a group of this nature could work well together and put some major time into the field. They quickly built up their advantage to over 30 seconds and I knew the race was over. I stopped trying to get into chase groups, nothing was getting off anyway, and went to the back of the pack to chillax for a little while. The race, however, was far from over.

Sitting in the back, I see a chase group of about 8 riders forming off the front of the field and I knew I had to be there. I attacked the field and made way to bridge up to the chase, bringing along some other riders behind me. Three laps later I caught the chase, and was able to sit on while three Lathrup guys pushed the pace on the front. We closed down the gap to the break to about 10 seconds, when the only Saturn of Toledo rider in the break was dropped, causing Jon Card (also Saturn of Toledo) to help with the chase. We eventually caught the 7 riders, lapping the field at the same time, so there was now a group of 20 riders left in the race.

From there on out, everything was in slow motion. I went off in a couple breaks from this group, but everybody was tired and the group eventually brought everything back. It occurred to me at this point that a late breakaway might stick, since the field was tired and unable to follow attacks. So I gave it my best shot, with three laps to go I went solo off the front and put in a decent gap between me and the field. Here is a video of me coming through with one to go, with the field not too far behind:

I was caught right before the final corner of the last lap. Ben (the winner) had it right. Watching this video, he is the guy behind the Bissell master team lead out train, which totally made sense in this situation. I attacked with 3 laps to go. They had 3 guys and plenty of time to reel me back in. I should have either waited a lap with a stronger attack, or waited for the sprint, basing my timing with their team.

I will not be racing for another 2 weeks, so please stay tuned until then.