“No wasting energy,” I said to Russell, Matt, Corey and Johnny 30 seconds before the start of this Saturday’s Castelli race in Prospect Park. That would be a major contrast to last week, when we spent the first four laps of a 12-lap race trying to get into breakaways – riding, as they say, “full gas” – only to have nothing left for the end of the race.

Surprisingly, we managed to stick with the plan. We stayed near the front for the first several laps but didn’t get dragged into any breakaways, instead letting the field do the work of pulling back the early attacks. The race was fast, but not too fast, and a slightly smaller field made navigating around the peloton easier than normal.

With five and a half laps to go, though, we started to get in on the action. On the flat back straight of the park, Russell and Eritt of The 5th Floor rolled off the front. The peloton let the move go, and Matt, Corey, Johnny and I moved to the front to chase down any attempts to bridge up to the breakaway. Within a couple of minutes, Russell and Eritt had a real gap – maybe 10 seconds. They caught a third rider who’d already been off the front. He hopped on their wheel and the three of them kept motoring ahead.

Then the gap started to widen. The chase in the peloton was inconsistent at best – one big pull from another team on the front, then the bunch would slow down. I tried to count the seconds between the peloton and the breakaway. Ten, then 15, then 20. Soon, the three breakaway compatriots were out of sight. Maybe, I hoped, they’d be out of mind and the peloton would start racing for fourth.

But it wasn’t meant to be. Three in the breakaway wasn’t quite enough to make it stick, and after a valiant effort Russell came back to the field with two laps to go.

Matt, Corey and I moved up towards the front as the peloton caught Russell. Since we hadn’t contributed to the chase, we had fresh legs. Our plan was to keep the field as strung out as possible to avoid jockeying for position before the sprint. With a lap and a half to go, Matt took a massive turn on the front. The peloton was in a long, single file hundreds of yards long.

With a lap to go, I was in third wheel – a bit too far forward. On the downhill, I let myself move back a bit in the peloton, knowing I could advance positions on the hill. As we moved up the hill, the pace ramped up and I slid up through the bunch. As we geared up for the sprint, I was in third position at the top of the climb.

But as we rounded the last turn, chaos. A rider went off the front in a last-ditch effort for a solo win, while a jogger stepped into the road and caused several of us to slow down. I lost 10 or 15 positions, and now needed to move up if I were going to contest the sprint. With 100 meters to go, I weaved past the rider who’d gone off the front but found myself boxed in. I was with the front group but rolled across the line in 11th. Tough to miss the top 10, but that’s bike racing.

Russell somehow managed to catch back on to the peloton during the full-speed last two laps – he and Corey came across the finish line just a bit behind the front group. Matt and Johnny, having spent their legs earlier, came across a bit further back.

All in all, a great day racing. Everyone stayed upright – always a first order priority – and the team animated the race. Can’t wait for the next one.

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