Mt. Hamilton RR - 3rd!

From the AV race report:

Right after the Mt. Hamilton 19mi sign, some college kid takes off at a big-ring pace and a only a few manage to follow - and they all blow up, except for another collegiate rider -Cal, I think. With those two off the front, the rest of us form a lead group and tap out a reasonable tempo for the first part of the 3 part climb. I helped set the pace, and put in a good acceleration near the top of the second climb that strung out the field (around 15 by then).

The final climb to the summit saw a few more attacks -- one by a godspeed rider that halved the group again. I tried to break away a few miles to the top, but was pulled back and decided to just sit in. I was first of a lead group of 7 over the top (I may have been the only one to sprint for it), and the lead 2 riders were out of sight.

The descent was decisive as well: Godspeed rider Shawn Yackle went nuts and dropped everyone -- he actually went down through one hairpin, but then got back on the bike and passed me again, even faster this time. I managed to get down almost as quickly, however, and solo'd a bit until I was caught by 2 riders --Taleo and another Godspeed-- after the Isabel Creek climb.

I talked the other 2 guys into doing a rotation --easy sell, I know-- and after a couple miles we managed to catch the other Godspeed rider.

So, the next ~35 miles were a 4 man rotation, trying to catch the two off the front. Halfway through one of the Godspeed riders broke a spoke and was out, so for the remainder we had three, in a smooth, fast rotation, all doing equal shares of the work. We never did catch those two, however, and it came down to a sprint for third. It wasn't so much that I outsprinted them: I was just the only one who had a sprint by the end, so I got a big gap and coasted accross the line.

Thanks for reading,
-Evan