I was really looking forward to this race as I wasn't able to participate last year and I didn't race all summer.
TT
The conditions on Saturday morning were perfect. Not too hot and barely any wind. The TT course is one of my favorites; mostly flat, few turns and not very susceptible to wind. One lap is only 4.6 miles and I remembered that we did the last lap of last year's 4 man TT in about 9 minutes and 30 seconds. I was curious to find out how I would do in such a short time trial and I was aiming for a time of about 10 minutes. After warming up for about 1 1/2 laps I was ready to go. Right from the start, I tried to find a good pace that I could keep for one lap but not any longer. I gave it my all and turned out that I paced myself well. A time of 9:38 minutes was better than I was hoping for and put me in the lead by a few seconds.
Crit
The crit for the A group started at 3pm and a group of about 20 people was looking forward to 12 laps of racing in the heat. A couple of people were separated by only a couple of seconds after the TT and the time bonuses for the prime and the finish should mix up the GC. Raffi attacked right from the gun and no one in the field seemed too eager to bring him back right away. So the field settled for a very comfortable pace. I'm still not sure if it was the heat or if everyone was just thinking about the road race on Sunday, but as soon as Raffi was reeled back in after about 4 laps, the whole peloton slowed down even more and throughout the remainder of the race, no one really tried to attack. Many times, I found myself in the front of the peloton going 14 or may be 15 miles. I had the feeling that every one was just sitting on my wheel and no one wanted to do any work. The only times the pace picked up was for the prime and final sprint. Both times, Dave gave me a perfect lead out and I was able to get the time bonus for both the prime and the finish, increasing my lead to almost 40 seconds.
RR
After the TT and the crit, we still had about a handful of riders competing for the overall; Brian, Raffi, Andrew, Mike, Dave, and myself. Conditions were once again perfect and should make for a beautiful day on the bike. As soon as we headed off, two guys went off the front and immediately the whole field was stretched out and started the chase. I didn't warm up at all as I thought I could warm up during the first couple of minutes of the race. But what a nice start to the race, and turns out it would get even better. The pace did not slow down on the first lap as Mike picked up the pace after almost every single turn. However, somehow we managed to get to the wall as one group and Mike set the pace going into the hill. Raffi came flying by half way up. I decided to follow him and was able to pass him before the top of the wall, getting another time bonus of 30 seconds. I'm not sure in which order the other riders followed but after the little downhill, Brian, Andrew, Raffi, Dave, and myself had a little gap and we decided to go for it. For the next couple of miles our gap was probably 15 to 20 seconds and we could see the big group behind us. We worked together very well on lap two and kept the pace high. Eventually, we were able to increase the gap and by the time we came to the wall for the second time, we had a comfortable lead. We 'sprinted' up the wall and I managed to get another 30 second time bonus. If I'm not mistaken, Brian crossed the line on top of the wall in second place, and Andrew in third. We regrouped after the climb and continued to take turns at the front. After lap 2, our gap was about 2:30 minutes and everyone in the lead group, except Brian, slowed down a little bit. Brian was riding very strong and I had the feeling that everyone was suffering just trying to hold his wheel. But once again the five of us managed to 'hit' the wall together and we crested the top in the same order as during the previous lap. This time after the descent, it was Brian, Andrew, and myself, who were up the road. Andrew said we should keep on going so the three of us would make the podium. We took turns until the bottom of the dam when I gave it all I had left to go for the win. Brian came in second and Andrew third, placing them second and third overall. I cramped really bad as soon as I crossed the finish line and I had to wait for about 5 minutes until I could continue cycling. However, it was such a fun race that it was totally worth the pain.
Thanks to everyone who helped organize this event and volunteered to make this event happen. I also want to thank everyone who participated and who made the race so much fun. It was a great weekend of racing and I'm hoping for an even greater turnout next year.