Race Reports: Ronde van Brisbeen Day 1 and 2

Saturday Circuit Race

Field: 120
Team: Bruce Wilford, Rob MacNeil (11th), Dominic Giampalo, Tore Nauta, Greg Gomez, Erik Berggren, Aaron Patterson, Bill Dunham

Category: 2/3 with each field picked separately

Placing: 3rd of 62 Cat 2's
Course: The same course as previous years with a steady climb and fast descent, the climb had a head wind that helped neutralize the climbers with the non climbers

At our pre-race meeting the plan was for the Cat 2 and Cat 3 teams to work together but also we decided on riding for two people, myself and Tore. The plan was to go for the win in both categories, with the teams (Cat 2 and 3 riding together to help achieve both goals (not ride for their respective category leaders). This was my first time racing the RvB circuit course, and based on peoples explanation of the course I told the team I wasn't sure what I would be capable of given the elevation changes. Bruce called perfectly by saying that if I was there half way through the race than I would be the "go to" guy at the end of the race. During the race I felt suprisingly strong, the effots up the hill weren't that bad and I was able to recover enough on the down hill section. From the start Dominc was on the front keeping the race lively. About half way into the race Dominic had just finished a hard session at the front and as soon as he came off the front a DBC rider attacked. I was sitting about 10th wheel, looked around and saw no green around me so I decided to counter. It took me a whole lap by myself to bridge up to the DBC rider. We rode together, trading pulls, for about another lap and half when the field caught us. For the rest of the race I did a pretty good job maintaining position near the front. Bruce took a bunch of hard turns at the front as well keeping the race strung out toward the end. As the lap cards started winding down, I focused more on maintaining my position toward the front, even if it meant spending a little time in the wind. With about 3 to go Bruce came along side and gave me a tow up a few spots. Dominic and Bruce both did an awesome job keeping it fast at the end of the race. Coming into the final hill I was sitting 2nd wheel behind the DBC rider when a Lombardi rider came on the inside of us. I started to jump on his wheel but the DBC rider was very aggressive and swerved in front of me to grab the Lombardi wheel. I hit the brakes to avoid hitting either the DBC rider or the curb, I got back on the cranks and wound it up (again) retaining my 3rd spot for 3rd place. Rob was racing with a cold and did his best to cover attacks and contribute to the pacemaking. He spent some time at the front during the race which was surprising considering how sick he was.

Takeaways from the race, I could have been more agressive and bumped the DBC rider to maintain my position on the Lombardi wheel, but that would have been risky. In all it was a great race for me. Dominic and Bruce were both crazy strong with all their efforts at the front. I do think we could try someday to form a leadout train just to see what happens. Tore finished 2nd in the 3's field. All of the Cat 2's and 3's met up after the race and a good discussion was had.

Sunday Crit

Field: 120
Team: Bruce Wilford, Tore Nauta, Greg Gomez, Erik Berggren, Bill Dunham, Greg Davis, (Greg Drake was the cheerleader for the day)

Category: 2/3 with each field picked separately

Placing: 6th of 20 total finishers
Course: Tight parking lot crit, a 180 halfway through, windy!

We had less people in the field on the 2nd day of RvB. The results of our pre-race meeting were to race again for both Tore and James as they were both positioned well in their respective GC categories. The wind completely shredded the field down to only 20 finishers, with many of those dropping out in the first 15 minutes. After about 20 minutes into the race I was the only Green rider left in the field. I went in to self preservation mode for the rest of the race as I didn't see a break's success being likely. The wind really left nowhere to hide in this race and it was wearing me down with each ticking lap. Finally the lap card came up with 20 to go. At abotu 16 to go I attempted to go for a prime but shut it down on the second to last straight away letting the BPG rider snag the honors. We rode tempo for about half a lap until the pack caught us. I sat in for the remainder of the laps with my legs absolutely screaming and wanting to give up. On multiple occasions my head dropped and luckily each time I read my big "LOVE PAIN" sticker I conveniently placed on my top tube, which gave me a subtle reminder to stick it out one more lap. Inside of 3 laps to go I was having more and more trouble maintaining position in the field and stared moving backwards. At 2 to go I found myself at the back of the 20 rider group with hardly anything left in the tank. Going into the Bell lap I took an outside line and moved up to about 5th wheel. I remained their for the last lap and when everyone started sprinting I did as well, I more or less maintained my position for a 6th place.

This was definitely a character building race for me, and at least twice as hard as the race the day before. Not having teamates throughout the race really made me burn all my matches leaving nothing for the end.

In the end I placed 3rd in the overall omnium for the weekend.

Thanks for reading.

James