We rolled out neutral and right off the gun Joachim attacks from the flats. Nobody responds and he gets a decent 200 meter lead right away. As the climb starts, I'm getting ready for hell, but it doesn't happen as we have already reeling in Joachim. Matt attacks, but doesn't put it all in and Tradewinds covers. Rick counters and again Tradewinds covers. On the second pitch, Carl attacks and Outtabounds covers. This basically went on the entire climb where I didn't really have to put down more than a 400 watt effort for more than a minute. The rest of it was basically riding tempo or threshold.

Once we got to the last pitch of the climb, I knew it was going to be a sprint finish again. I still had not seen the wind at all, but neither did Salvatore, who I knew would be a main contender. We were in a group of 11, with also Will and Bill who I knew could pack a sprint if they were fresh. I told myself "patience, patience, patience," knowing that I just needed to avoid doing anything stupid the next 4 miles, but also put myself in good position going into the last 2 miles.

I had been staying in the top 6 positions the entire race, but knew I needed to for sure be in the top 5 as we made the right hander with 1.3 miles to go. I made the turn in 4th, and soon found myself 3rd wheel as we rolled single file. Jeff was burying himself to lead Will out who was second wheel...but I knew it was too far for him to tow us all...so something was going to give.

Jeff pulled off with about 700 meters to go and I knew Will was going to ease up so I came off his wheel and slightly along side him as not to get boxed in as we went from single file to more of a mob. The center line rule was in effect all the way to the finish, and we only had one 9 foot lane to operate in, so at most you can go is 3 wide. I saw Bill come up on my left and figured he was going to try and lead out the Outtabounds train, as they had 5 of the 11 guys left.

I didn't want to go from this far out, but I also couldn't afford getting boxed in either, so I jumped with about 300 meters left as we started the 2.5% grade up to the finish. Peaked out at 1165 watts early and got a gap. Will or Bill who were next to me couldn't respond, and Sal had gotten boxed in because of it. I must have created at least 10 meters within the first 8 seconds of my sprint, but I still had a long way to go. Sal had finally gotten through and Mike and Joe were trying to get on his wheel as they chased me down. Thankfully though Sal could never get in my draft, and I don't think Mike or Joe were close enough to Sal to slingshot off of him...because those last 10 seconds I was absolutely dying. Power was dropping to the 600-700 range and I felt super sloppy over my bike. I wanted to downshift so badly but I couldn't risk it. I must have looked back about three times, with the last time about 5 meters from the line and by then I knew I had it...by about 2-3 bike lengths.

Got a lot of congratulations from the other riders. I was pretty stoked to be able to pull off the back to back overall win.

Not much. Starting the sprint early was a big risk, but it worked out for the better as Sal, Mike, or Joe were not in position to get on my wheel. I wasn't the strongest rider there, but I played my cards right and I was lucky it worked out again.

The answer is almost always "fatness." But I have to give myself a little credit this year as I have lost "some" weight. But still got a few more pounds to go before this isn't a limiter.


Great early season race.