Ready set. . . .get dropped.

After racing the Cherry Pie Criterium I realized one thing, the race starts as soon as the official is off the road and out of the way. Therefore, going into the Snelling Road race with the foreknowledge the field was stacked with riders such as Andy Jacques-Maynes of California Giant Berry Farms and fifteen of his teammates along with pro teams such as Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast, BMC and Daniel Halloway I knew I needed to be up front with the leaders at the start of the race. However, little did I know the promenade was the actual start of the race. As we left the parking lot, riders began jostling for position and slowly working their way to the front of the pack. I spotted Michael Hernandez of VOS and followed him up to within twenty-five riders of the front. As we continued to "promenade the lead moto just kept accelerating to stay ahead of the bunch. By the time we hit the start line we were literally doing 28 mph.

The Race

We hit the slight downhill and the Big Strawberries was full throttle. Looking back at my power file we were averaging 31.2 mph for the first five and half minutes of the race. It was in this first five minutes that the race was made. Talk about separation, 'those who can't make this first break are going to lose the race' I thought to myself. Then I stood up to close yet another gap and I just couldn't do it. The pack was shattered with me in chase.

At this moment more than half the pack had been dropped from the bunch. Our field with 120 riders was full. The lead group was about thirty and shrinking with every minute. More than half the field had to of dropped out of this race. Because as I, Mike Hernandez (VOS), Zack Sober (Wells Fargo), BMC, and Metro Mint started a steady chase we picked up Cal Giant Riders, BPG riders, and a host of others who eventually fell off our group. The race was eventually won by someone in that lead group as we never did catch them. I finished the six laps I set out to and stayed dry for the most part. At race end I had the pleasure of meeting JD of BPG, Elliot of BPG, and had some time to catch up with John Wilk (SuperFeet) and Steve Holmes (Lambardi Sport). All great guys and a pleasure to race with.

Next Race Cat 2 (only) Merco Credit Union Criterium and Road Race.