The ride out to today's VCL at Caleb Pike was under cloudy skies and brisk temperatures, but the clouds parted as we rallied at the start line, which seemed like an auspicious sign that our plan for a strong result would bear fruit. In among the mix of the usual ProCity suspects and a lot of new other unfamiliar faces and jerseys, Trevor Mackenzie (glad to have the TMac back!), ARuss, Eugene, Isaac, Brian Green and yours truly were there to represent the blue and gold for the 14 A-group laps. After mulling over different options pre-race, it was decided that ARuss would attack from the gun and try and stay away the entire race. This would be a big ask for anyone else, but having been a nail to Andrew's hammer in the last few months (actually years, if I'm honest), I knew it was a viable option. We also knew that Eugene, our next go-to guy, would be waiting like a a coiled spring for his chance to lay down some serious wattage later in the race.
This was a fun contest as quite a few other riders were willing to give an honest go at it, and there were multiple attacks through the laps by Kevin Ford, Curtis, Nick Friesen and others who I can only identify by their jerseys (e.g. Team Suisse and Rapha-man). With Aruss out of sight early, our job was to cover moves and try to control the pack. I followed a few decent digs by Nick F. and others, as did Brian Green and Isaac, and nothing was able to get away as we had the front of the pack well covered throughout. Isaac and Trev kept us alert to various moves and did a great job talking us through the race. Initially, Aruss's gap hung steady at 20 seconds for a while, but then steadily grew as the laps when by. Keep in mind he was solo the whole time! When it was at 1 minute with 5 laps to go, we knew that it was going to be very difficult for anyone to bridge up. The same 4 or riders were doing all the work at the front most of the time, but they were unable to make any significant dent in Andrew's lead. Just another day at the office for ARuss!
With 3 to go, Eugene unleashed an attack that only Nick Friesen was willing or able to follow. As the duo gradually pulled away in the distance, I instinctually sat on the front along the back stretch and set a steady pace: not too fast, but not too slow. With 2 laps to go and no-one pulling through, I was first through the far corner and took it at a leisurely pace to try and give Eugene a few more seconds advantage. It wasn't sketchy or unpredictable, but admittedly a little too obvious judging by the choice words sent my way from those behind me. A fair tactic IMHO, but maybe lacking in guile and finesse! Ultimately, it didn't really have an impact on the result as Eugene was too far gone to be caught. In the last lap we controlled the pace and Brian and Trevor were well organised and did a great job to get Isaac in a good position for the final run-in. Isaac sealed the deal in the field sprint to take 4th place.
So, with an extremely impressive race-winning solo break from Andrew, a strong 2nd from Eugene and a great finishing kick from monsieur Leblanc, the Wheelers successful 2017 season continues to roll along!
VCL Caleb Pike #2 A race
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