Men's Category 3
We knew this race was gonna be fast and it didn't disappoint.  Single file right from the gun.  Attacks from the Energizer Bunny, Fred Jacobsen began immediately.  Soon a teammate joined him, then a IS-Corp...then our own Chris Mantel bridged up and things were lookin peachy.  Troc was on the front controlin' things...but then, Chris got chewed up in the break and came back...that is when the problems started.  Jeff, Casey, Chris and I sat on the front and tried to organize a chase with Josh Meyer and one Wheel and Sprocket guy...lap after lap we couldn't put any time into the break which got 15-30 seconds on us.  Riders from other teams either screwed up the pacelining, attacked or just sat in and let us do the work.  

At about three laps to go, NOBODY was helping us out...which was ok, we tried to set up our lead out.  Jeff took a huge pull at the beginning of the last lap followed by myself.  Unfortunately, my pull was no more punishing than your grandma in her stroller!!  The slow down allowed Josh Meyer to put a big effort in, Casey tried to follow along with Chris and Dan from GDVC (who just sat on Casey's wheel) by the time Casey caught him, the sprint had started and Dan came around...Casey got third in the field sprint, 7th overall...pretty demoralizing considering we did the boatload of work for the enitre race and couldn't get our guy to the line first...I have to say that we worked like a team, and really are getting better at sharing the workload...it wasn't perfect but I thought we took responsibility and tried to control the race.  

So, it wasn't the most productive weekend, again.  But, hats off to Jeff and Casey for the double this weekend and Chris is gonna blow it apart one of these days, I know it.  Steve had a bad day, but I know he would have helped huge with the team sharing the load.  

This racin' thang is hard.

Masters' Category 4/5
Some races really suck. Weeks afterwards, you’re still left contemplating the “what if” questions. The Neenah race was not one of those races. The only “what if” question that could be asked is “what if I had a half-decent sprint?”. The race went off under perfect conditions, with a relatively small field and very few breaks. Mr. Schindler’s now obvious tactics of trying to break away were quickly neutralized by riders from Endeavour, Team Wisconsin, Wheel and Sprocket, and a teammate-less me. This set up the typical field sprint and atypically, I found myself in good position going into the final, sketchy corner. I held my position and may have even been able to pass the “not-from-the-southside”-Endeavour dude in another 20 feet. I finished 5th and in the small money for a “change”.

What if I do some sprint workouts for the next month?