This race was awesome, and there were some fast people there.
Jim Stemper (Kenda Pro Cycling) and Brian Rach (ISCorp), both whom I stayed with in Tucson, were there. An awesome sprinter, Chad Hartley (Kenda Pro Cycling) was there. Thirteen IS Corp riders were there (Matt Busche from RadioShack rode for IS Corp as an amateur). I have looked up to most of these guys for the past 2 years, so it was nerve-racking finally riding with them. I think I counted about 70-75 riders at the start, but was told only 62 at the finish by an official. Not sure if that’s how many finished or how many started, though.
I was worried, though. Would I do something stupid in front of them? Most knew this was my first P/1/2 race coming up from the 3s.
The course had two real turns, and two small risers, with a good amount wind. No brakes were necessary, but apparently they use brakes in the P/1/2 field, too.
Hartley said he averaged 270-something watts, but he was a lot more active than I was and he has 10lbs on me. Mine was about 230w, with 263w normalized power for the 55min. The thing I noticed – I could respond to every attack and recover within seconds. I wasn’t tired, even when it got really hard at some parts (Peak 60s = 551w). In the end, I sat 15th wheel with 1/2 lap to go, and we were doing 31+mph.
I sprinted up to a line of riders coming up on my left, took a small gap to take second wheel with 300m to go. The guy pulled off right after the turn, leaving me with a 200m, uphill, upwind sprint. A few guys gained on me, 1st won by half a bike length, but 2nd-5th were within 6 inches of each other.
4th place (of 62+) in my first P/1/2 race. Awesome.
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