Well, it’s the moment y’all you have been waiting for…The verdict of today’s race. Put simply, today could not have gone much better than it did. Actually, it would have been best if I was able to go on a solo breakaway to make up the mere 35 seconds keeping me out 1st place in the general classification. However, the two riders-supported by their teams-ahead of me on GC were too strong to let that happen. So, after a few unsuccessful attempts and one “almost” successful attempt, I was forced to concede and think of another to have success on the day.
Success today didn’t just come in the form of a 3rd place overall finish in the stage race’s general classification. Yep! That’s right…Team Guinness (made up of Jay and myself) took both 1st and 2nd on the fourth and final stage of the Cascade Classic. Today’s result was a truly pleasant surprise to me, as I’m usually not one for sprint finishes, especially in the finale of a tough 70 mile circuit race with moderate amounts of climbing. Oh! I forgot to mention that we road today’s stage in less than 3 hours. Needless to be said, we were flying.
In conclusion, today was a great way to end a magnificent weekend of bike racing in Bend, OR. I captured 5th, 4th, 3rd and 2nd place stage finishes and left with a 3rd place overall finish-3 seconds out of 2nd place and another 30 out of first. OUCH! Oh well, I won’t lose any sleep over it, thought the 87 other men I beat might:)
Here’s some pictures to sum up today’s stage. Check out my Flickr page for more.
