The third and final race of the UW Parkside Criterium series proved to be the hardest and fastest of the three events, however, team Velo Trocadero still managed to find success.  One can't help but to notice the similarities between second and third Parkside races.  The field size was again around 45 riders, the chilly temperature, sunshine and brisk east wind mimicked the previous week's weather and the race seemed to unfold as though it had been scripted by Team Clif Bar and Velo Trocadero.

The usually flurry of early attacks occurred and we once again did a great job at covering all of the moves that posed a threat.  Clif Bar is a relatively new team and we are not yet familiar with exactly who their key riders so we were forced to cover any move that they made.  We made the mistake of letting them get up the road with Aaron Brandt last week and that combination of riders in addition to their good blocking skills proved too strong for us to successfully bridge somebody up into what played out to be the winning move.  We were a bit more aware this week and did a great job of following the strong moves.

As the race was nearing the three-fourths mark, it didn't seem as though anything was going to stay away and our mentality naturally started shifting to focus on a sprint finish.  Luckily, Jack remained focus and quickly identified an opportunity to get a jump on the field and did just that.  Within no time, Jack and Freshman Steve, who now rides for IS Corp, were able to establish a substantial gap on the rest of the pack.  Before the rest of the Trocaderos were able to get on the front to control things and give Jack's breakaway a better chance of succeeding, a Trek/VW rider and a member of Clif Bar got a jump and were able to bridge up to the two leaders.  With that combination of breakaway riders along with Trocadero working hard to keep the pack from chasing and the limited amount of time left in the race, the break looked like it would certainly be successful.  And that it was, with Jack leading out the sprint and taking a very close second to the rider from ISCorp.

All that remained was the field sprint.  Given that the last two Cat. 3 races have ended with final-lap crashes, I don't think any of us wanted to risk too much for a fifth place finish.  That said, Todd and I were able to keep good position and finish near the front of the field.  Patrick got pushed off our wheel but still managed to round out the top 20.  Steve was tapped out from sacrificing himself for the good of the team but hung in there and picked off a few riders coming down the finishing stretch.  Scott doesn't believe that one can race too much in a day and proved it again by hanging tough and finishing midpack in his second race of the day.  That is no small feat considering the quality of the Masters field that he raced against earlier in the day.

With the Parkside Criterium series now behind us, I think it is safe to say that Velo Trocadero has come out of the gates strong.  These races have provided us the opportunity to work on the tactics and teamwork that we believe will lead us to success throughout the 06 season.  Check our Calendar of Events page to find out what races we plan to attend.  We hope to see you there!!