Grandview Grand Prix

So now I know what it FEELS like to win...it's one of the greatest feelings ever!!!! Too bad I don't know what it's like to ACTUALLY win... What follows is the story of the guy who needs to learn how to pay attention to the whole race***.

I woke up...not feeling great. I got to the race..not feeling great. But Grandview is a great criterium and my hope was that as the race started or went on that I would feel ok.

At the gun we started off pretty quick. Not surprising. I settled in somewhere around the front of the back third for the first of 18 laps. Not a great position, but that's where I felt like being. I was just sorta hanging on.

By about the 8th or 9th lap I was starting to feel a little better and moved into the front third of the pack. I think that by this time a break of four riders had gone off the front, but I wasn't aware of exactly what was up in front of us (see *** above).

I think it was about the 15th lap that one of the Shirk's guys, Manny Caliz jumped off the front. Manny is a strong rider and I didn't want him to get away, so I went quickly with him and a third guy followed us. We built up a bit of a gap straight away. After Manny pulled, I did my duty, when I pulled off the third guy didn't pull through. So it was Manny again. When it came back to me I had to say, "Sorry, I don't think I have it today." We slowed and the pack caught us.

Occasionally, I would hear someone in the crowd call out "30 seconds" or something like that, indicating the time between us and the breakaway. But the breakaway was nowhere to be seen.

On the back half of the 17th lap, I decided it was time to make my move. Coming from about 3 riders back, I made my jump. I looked under my arm after about 20 pedal revolutions and saw that I had a gap, but it was small. I put in about 20 more and a second look showed the gap widening. From here on out I was all in!

I passed my teammates having a little party at Brad and Michelle's house. Cheers from them gave me strength. A big turn and then the long sweeping Grandview Avenue. Passing the finish line to start the bell lap, I was greeted by my wife Holly and the kids cheering and ringing cowbells. It was a blur as my heart rate reached up to 192 (higher than I've ever seen it).

On the back half, there are a series of turns with a block in between each: left, left, right, right, left, left to get back to the final leg before the finish. I was feeling strong, giving it everything I had, and then, there he was! I saw the breakaway ahead of me. I was gaining quickly and before long I came up on his rear wheel and zipped around him - right in front of my cheering team. I was in first place. On the last left, I took a glance back and saw the pack. They were closing, but I still had a decent gap.

Every bit of effort I had went into that last leg. All of a sudden I see the registration tents (the finish line!) ahead of me. With 50 meters to go, I glanced back and saw that they couldn't catch me. A few more seconds and I raised my hands in victory! I was overjoyed. What an amazing feeling! I rode right towards Holly who was taking pictures of me...arms raised in celebration.

And then the pack caught up to me and I heard people talking about the successful break...only they weren't talking about me. The guy I had passed to move into "first place" was one of the four people in the breakaway who had been dropped. The other three had finished the race well ahead of me - I had never even seen them. I probably made one of the greatest celebrations ever for a fourth place finish!!!

And yet, in retrospect, I realize that that race was one of the best performances of my (short) career. I took off at the right time and I held off the peloton. And hey...fourth place ain't all that bad.