It’s about time I write a race report.

Elk Grove was going to be my first repeat race of my (short) career. Since this was the only race I had done before, it was my only target race on the schedule this year. I was riding around with Matt quite a bit before the race, and he agreed to do what he could to help get me to the podium.

Time to line up for the start – Turns out everyone else in the race had already gotten the message, and Matt and I are stuck at the VERY back of the group. I have learned in my (very) limited racing experience that starting in the back is not ideal if you are trying to finish on the podium. I need to move up. I slide all the way to the right and sit behind an unattached rider. He begins to wedge his way up, and I follow. Golden – I just gained 25 spots and the race hadn’t even started.

As the race starts, we settle into a nice 24mph pace going down the first straight and into the 180 degree turn. The unattached rider (who is still in front of me) doesn’t hold his line at all, swing WIDE and slows to about 15mph. Time to get ahead of this disaster. Coming out of the turn, I shoot past him and up to the front. My attempt at moving up turns into a half hearted attack, and I have about 50 feet on the pack coming back down the main stretch. There is a decent head wind, and I don’t want to be out here solo, but I also want to keep the pace high (to get rid of the previously mentioned unattached rider, and others like him), so I hold my pace and make the pack catch me.

Caught – Awesome, I turn around a see a familiar XXX face who is mouthing “I got you, go again and I will come with.” Riding around the round the bottom of the “L” shaped course, sitting in second wheel, is all the recovery time I am going to get. As we exit, I hear the familiar sound of screeching tires and carbon hitting the pavement. I ATTACK. Hammer for 30 seconds and turn around. Four of us have a small gap of about 10-15 meters. Its two XXXers, Liam (Tati) and a Beverly rider (I think he is a Jr.). Four is good. I try to organize the break and we are working together well until we get back down the main drag to the 180 degree turn where my XXX teammate has decided he’s had enough and floats back to the pack. (Thank you for the help!)

Down to me, Liam and Beverly - We work well together for the entire next lap, taking turns pulling and rotating well. As we approach the 180 turn for the third time, Beverly has had enough and starts floating off the back of our break. Liam asks if we should wait. Our gap is only about 15 seconds and I tell him I believe we are strong enough to hold off the pack as two, so we keep pushing. We work well together for the next 3 laps, alternating short pulls.

One lap to go – The guy on the motorcycle tells us we are out of sight of the group and have about 30 seconds on the chase, and that this race is all but over for us. Time to start thinking about how I am going to try to beat Liam. I had sprinted with him in Evanston two weeks earlier and felt like I was the stronger sprinter. The question now was when to go. The cat and mouse games start with about 600 meters left in the race. I am on his wheel and want to maintain that position as long as possible. With the 200 meter sign in sight, I get tired of the game. I take off and create a gap that is building slowly. At 50 meters to the finish, I can just barely see his shadow fading off and I knew I had it. Victory is sweet.

Thanks for the help in the break and the blocking in the chase!