2003 Kentuckiana Spring Classic Series

The race had a number of attacks by Savage Hill riders in the beginning. Then with 1 lap to Go.. I soloed off the front with about 7 miles to go. I had one guy bridge up to me.. and we continued to work our break. We were caught 400 meters from the line. I reset for the sprint with the help of Will who lined out the field with 100 meters to go. It was a all out field sprint and I missed first by half a wheel.

This was a race well worth the 3.5 hour drive. Even though we had a small team of 3, the other racers were thinking we had more. We all stayed at the front sending a guy off, working the group, or chasing other attacks. None of the breaks seemed to work because of an abundance of inividually strong riders. Some would try to bridge and just pull the group back together. There were even some times when a single rider would almost be out of sight.
We talked about the race waiting for the start and decided on a sprint strategy. It didn't work out exactly that way. On the last lap with Rob in the break, Will and I were sitting on the front of the group with occasional bridging attempts. As the finish was nearing and the break was getting closer, I made sure to be in the front without expending any extra energy. Will really took the initiative after the group came together. Somewhere around the last corner Will was accelerating dragging another rider with him. Soon he had a train formed with Rob, another rider, and then myself. It wasn't the order we wanted, but it was much too late to try to reorganize. From there to the line, everything was a little blury. After crossing the line, I only remember counting 3 people in front of me with Rob very close to a win.
This race wasn't a hard race, but it was fun because we were making things happen. Even without the win we wanted, two top 5 places is a good consolation prize

What a fantastic race! We didn't win it, but we took 2nd and 4th in a 50 man field sprint at the end of what turned out to be a very fast and aggressive race. There was almost always something happening off the front; and we were usually involved in some way. The three of us (Rob, Indiana Joe, and myself) were each in our share of breaks. But the destiny of the race was field sprint and no matter how aggressive the attack, or how good the move, the race just kept coming back together.

Rob put in a good solo break on the last lap. He was eventually joined by a Rapid Transit rider. They almost stayed away. But Rob was hedging his bets on the field sprint and didn't drive the break to the limit, putting the pressure instead on his break companion to keep them away. With less than 1k to go I worked my way to the front with Joe in tow, crossed the small gap to Rob's group, got Rob in the line and then put the hammer down. I Drove it hard into the final turn with the field strung out single file behind. Rob and Joe were sitting 4th, 5th or so in the line and came around with 150 meters to go. The sprint didn't quite go our way and Rob was beat at the line by a half wheel.