I’ve never really thought of myself as a sprinter, so being near the pointy end in the final moments of races this season has been…. a treat. I got to lead out Scott for the win at Floyd a few weeks back and this Saturday I got to battle up Cat’s Paw at Dave Jordan Classic. Fun stuff.

To be honest, the race was kind of straightforward. I tried to stay near the front but behind the larger boys which, for the most part, worked well. Now and again I followed wheels and found myself in a little group with a small gap on the field but I never committed anything to going away knowing a real break was unlikely and I was pretty excited to try my luck on a punchy finish. 

Our team suffered from some bad luck (Mitch flatted, Rod got caught behind a crash) but NYCC had a really large team out for the race and after a bunch of half-hearted attempts at attacks, they started to make use of their numbers on the last lap, sending ppl up the road and then just sitting on the front. There was a brief moment where it seemed like it might stay away and I did my job of shouting ‘gentle encouragement’ at the front of the group to shut it down. I was around 10th wheel through HSA when Matt came through and hopped on the front of the peloton to keep the pace high, the group somewhat stretched out, and me safely in my position. I moved up to around 5th or 6th wheel on the back of I think 3 NYCC folks as we hit the descent and into the bottom of Cat’s Paw and I followed their train up, sitting on the eventual winner’s wheel.

I rode hard up Cat’s paw on that NYCC wheel with clear road ahead and around us. It’s sort of a technical finish with the fast run-in and the curving sprint at 5% or 6%. I knew to resist the urge to launch too soon and I tried coming around the NYCC rider towards the top as the pitch mellows out. I came out on the left side but I couldn’t get even with him — either I left it too late or I just didn’t have the power. Josh from Blue Ribbon came around him on the right side which was the shorter line to the finish and we were pretty much even as we crossed the finish. I actually thought I had him beat so it must have been very close.

Its hard to remember all the details (now I know why people pore over their GoPro footage) but I do remember feeling as we were getting brought up the hill like… damn… I’m in a good spot and I’m sprinting for the win… Chill.

Was I fully satisfied with my sprint? Nope. But the grimace indicates I gave it a pretty good shot.

Dave Jordan Central Park Classic Gallery