ICCC Dash for Cash race report
Posted on Thursday, August 7, 2008
This was a classic business park race- flat, 4 corners and spiced up with some wind. I won't deny that I took special pleasure in receiving the number 666 at this International Christian Cycling Club promoted race and I was feeling optimistic about my chances in this race. My confidence was further bolstered by the attendance of my teammates Matt Tamel, JD Bergman, Sean McBride, Logan Loader and Dylan Clark and of course Sergei Badeka calling the shots on the radio.
There were upwards of 130 starters since it was a P/1/2/3 race and in addition to a lot of inexperienced cat 3's there were many of the usual nor-cal fast men at the start including a few guys who get paid to ride; Healthnet's Roman Kilun and Rock Racing's Kevin Klein were present as well.
Our strategy for the day was to avoid possible problems created by a big, unpredictable field by riding at the front and making the race good and fast to reduce the field size as quickly as possible- it seemed like I was not alone in this tactic as the pace was high from the gun.
There were a lot of attacks all throughout the race and by the look of the results, our plan worked and there were a lot of non-finishers. The format of this race has changed and instead of a $10 prime on every lap, there were several $40 primes spread throughout the day. For such a large field, the prizes were surprisingly small... and no cash at all for the top 5 as it turned out. Can't complain too much I guess, but with a name like Dash for Cash I was kind of expecting something signifigant to race for. The primes did serve to split a few breaks off the front, but nothing seemed like it would stick and by the later part of the race it was clear that we were looking at a sprint.
That didn't stop us from making the effort to get off the front with every attack- all the BPG riders were working hard to be represented in possible moves. In the last 30 minutes, I think I was in 3 different breakaway attempts; Sergei kept telling me to go, so that's what I did. I thought I was going to die a couple times when the break I was in came back to the group and I immediately found myself in a position to go with the counter... I was determined to leave every bit of energy I had out on the course so I just got in the pain bag and went with every attack I could.
Soon enough we were hearing the bell for the final lap and I was still in the mood to suffer so I got up as close to the front as I could. I got lucky and found myself coming into the last corner in the 4th spot- I sprinted hard but I was boxed in and couldn't improve on that position. Nobody came past me and I was 4th with JD rolling in just behind me. 4th and 5th, not bad!
-Josh Snead
There were upwards of 130 starters since it was a P/1/2/3 race and in addition to a lot of inexperienced cat 3's there were many of the usual nor-cal fast men at the start including a few guys who get paid to ride; Healthnet's Roman Kilun and Rock Racing's Kevin Klein were present as well.
Our strategy for the day was to avoid possible problems created by a big, unpredictable field by riding at the front and making the race good and fast to reduce the field size as quickly as possible- it seemed like I was not alone in this tactic as the pace was high from the gun.
There were a lot of attacks all throughout the race and by the look of the results, our plan worked and there were a lot of non-finishers. The format of this race has changed and instead of a $10 prime on every lap, there were several $40 primes spread throughout the day. For such a large field, the prizes were surprisingly small... and no cash at all for the top 5 as it turned out. Can't complain too much I guess, but with a name like Dash for Cash I was kind of expecting something signifigant to race for. The primes did serve to split a few breaks off the front, but nothing seemed like it would stick and by the later part of the race it was clear that we were looking at a sprint.
That didn't stop us from making the effort to get off the front with every attack- all the BPG riders were working hard to be represented in possible moves. In the last 30 minutes, I think I was in 3 different breakaway attempts; Sergei kept telling me to go, so that's what I did. I thought I was going to die a couple times when the break I was in came back to the group and I immediately found myself in a position to go with the counter... I was determined to leave every bit of energy I had out on the course so I just got in the pain bag and went with every attack I could.
Soon enough we were hearing the bell for the final lap and I was still in the mood to suffer so I got up as close to the front as I could. I got lucky and found myself coming into the last corner in the 4th spot- I sprinted hard but I was boxed in and couldn't improve on that position. Nobody came past me and I was 4th with JD rolling in just behind me. 4th and 5th, not bad!
-Josh Snead
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