Coach Thrasher

Race Report: Watsonville Crit Elite 3 + pictures

Race Report: Watsonville Crit Elite 3
34 laps (20 miles)
Teammates: Matt Beebe (1st), Rob MacNeill (3rd), Brad Goodson (4th), Greg Davis, Brian Peterson, Peter Dinolfo, Peter Cazalet, Mike
Vella, Bernhard Stonas
Result: 10th

Matt and Brad gave a rundown of the race previously, so I'm just adding my domestique perspective here...

First, some pictures of the AV 3's group at this race:
http://www.gogodoit.com/AVE3_at_Watsonville_2005/AVE3_at_Watsonville_2005%20001.jpg
http://www.gogodoit.com/AVE3_at_Watsonville_2005/AVE3_at_Watsonville_2005%20002.jpg
Note: that's the Velo Promo van behind us. Also note the strawberries - yum! Pink shirts are for top placing.


My goal for this race was to support Rob and Matt with their race goals: Rob wanted his last few points, and Matt wanted to try for a winning break. I had volunteered to be a block and cover guy for them both.

I rode the first 3/4 of the race at or near the front, providing block for Greg, Brian, and Rob in their break attempts with a few riders from other teams. When there were attacks by other teams without AV riders, I tried getting on their wheel while dragging the pack with me. All that work hurt quite a bit. A couple of times I did fade back to mid-pack and realized that I needed to stay at the front to prevent the constant re-accelerations due to all of the turns. I was at the front with Matt made his winning break. The pack rode for a while with Matt and his SJBC partner just within reach, but the pack never bridged. It was pretty cool to see Matt committing to that move - he really made it work, and stuck to his plan.

With 2 laps to go I had faded to about mid-pack. We rounded the last two laps fairly quickly and from the final corner I gunned it for 10th. I feel like I should have tried more aggressively to maintain my position and try for a real sprint finish - it's a lot harder to pass 10 guys who are going for a top-10 placing than the 10-20 placing. It was very satisfying to see Matt win though - and I think we really had a great team race as well. Congrads to Rob for acquiring enough points to make the 2's.

Posted at 03:12PM Jul 20, 2005 by jason in Cycling  |  Comments[0]