Hello Loyal Readers,
Sorry for the lack of update last week, I will let you know what we have been up to the past couple weeks.
Last weekend we traveled to Kemptville Ontario for the Dandelion Grand Prix. With a big cash purse for both the criterium Saturday night and road race Sunday Afternoon, all of Ontario’s Heavy Hitters were out looking to make some big money. Saturdays Crit started off very aggressively and was marred by crashes in the first half of the race. I personally was caught up in 3 which made me feel like I was spending more time in the pits, than on the bike. With Jamie being sick, Anton and I knew were would have to race smart if we wanted to get the win. Late in the race a very dangerous move got away that Anton and I were not in, so I went to the front and took a couple pulls with some other riders who had missed the break in an attempt to bring it back. Unfortunately we caught all the riders in the break but one and he ended up staying away for the win. On the plus side Anton won the field sprint for second so we still made a very decent amount of prize money.
Sunday was a long 170km road race. The course was really flat so we hoped the wind would be a factor, unfortunately there was little to no wind. On the third lap I got in a breakaway with 6 other guys and we started rolling nicely together. A lap later, Anton bridged up with a few others to give the break some more fire power. As hard as we tried the break never got much more than a 1 minute 30 second lead over the peloton and we were caught inside 10km to go. Anton still made a valiant effort in the field sprint and ended up 6th, just outside the money. Not a bad weekend of racing.
This past weekend Anton and I loaded up the Jet Fuel van and traveled back to the Ottawa area for the Mississippi Mills Grand Prix. A 3 day, 4 stage race in the Mississippi Mills area just west of Ottawa. Driving out on Friday morning the rain was torrential and we just prayed that it would stop before we got to the race. It didn’t. Friday night was an 88 km road race. Again it started out aggressively and only 10km in, the pack split. It came back together before the end of the lap but it just showed that even though it was raining cats and dogs, everyone was ready to race. The next lap i bridged up to 2 riders to make the 3 man break that would ride to the finish. It was probably one of the best breakaways I have ever been in. Not one of us missed a pull, we just got down to business and got the job done. After being yelled at by the commisaire for wearing a vest over my numbers (they knew it was raining right?) I took it off and got ready for the last lap. Our Gap started coming down fast but we managed to stay away by just nine seconds. I took second on the stage.
On Saturday morning, the second stage was a 18km time trial. There is not much to write about in a time trial, you just ride hard and suffer by yourself. fun fun. Jamie, Anton and I all put in respectable times but we were no match to specialists like Aaron Fillion who put in over 2 minutes on us.
Saturday Night was a crit in Downtown Almonte. A lot of people were complaining about how ‘sketchy’ the course was. But I kind of liked it. It separated the men from the boys so to speak. Again it was very aggressive from the start and again, like the weekend before, marred by crashes. It seemed that every time we went around the same corner every lap, someone would crash. All of us Jet Fuel boys managed to stay up right. About half way through, there were only 15 guys left in the race. Anton and I were still there. We both tried to get away but Stevens Racing had 6 guys out of the 15 and they were controlling what got away and what didn’t. Eventually they swept the podium while Anton rounded out the top 5.
The last and final stage was another 170km road race. Our plan was to sit in and wait until the second half of the race when Fillion would become isolated, and then race a really aggressive second half to try and split things up. Our plan worked out really well. And on the 3rd lap of 4 it looked like we had made the move of the race. Through the 5km gravel section on that lap Jamie went to the front and absolutely drilled it, stringing out the field. Then I attacked to try and get a reaction and Fillion chased me down. When I was caught Anton put in a massive attack with second place on GC, Ed veal on his wheel. They quickly got a gap of 2 seconds, making Veal the virtual race leader, but Fillion and His Teammate Casey Roth put in an impressive show of strength to bring it back just before the start of the 4th and final lap. The pack slowed for quite a while and allowed Bayden Pritchard to quietly roll off the front and get a gap of over a minute. Anton and I still wanted to be aggressive and split things up so we started attacking one after the other until eventually at around 5 km to go the race shattered. The race was in groups of 2′s or 3′s all over the road, with Anton in the front 3 just behind Bayden. Bayden ended up staying away and Anton won the sprint for second. A very tough day in the saddle, and a tough weekend overall of racing.
I’d like to thank the Riggs Family for hosting us the last 2 weekends and welcoming us into their home.
Next up is the KW Classic on Sunday June 10th. Stay Tuned
Evan