A lot better than yesterday! Today we raced the second day of the Tour of America’s Dairyland (ToAD). In yesterday‘s race, Max won in a breakaway of two riders, and I had a bit of bad luck – I got caught behind a crash and my helmet buckle fell off in the early laps.
Max won again today, lapping the field after the second-place finisher from yesterday had to sit out a lap because of a mechanical in the later stages of the race (when neutral laps were no longer allowed).
Winning my race today wouldn’t be so straightforward – I couldn’t just outpower the field for the win.
There were a lot of attacks. I sent a few of my own at the beginning to stretch out the field. It worked – I ended up thinning the group down to about 12 out of the 23 who started. I stayed near the front, chasing down attacks, counterattacking, and pushing the pace.
Halfway into the race, I fell back to fifth wheel, and two riders launched an attack from behind. No one in front of me decided to chase. I attacked and almost caught the breakaway, but when I pulled off, nobody else wanted to help, and the two got away.
For the rest of the race, riders would attack and then the group would almost come to a standstill. On the final lap, I got boxed in and slipped to seventh wheel, but I managed to move up on the backstretch to first. Just before the final turn, a rider attacked and got a gap. I sprinted as hard as I could and came around him briefly, but lost by a bike throw for third place – just a couple centimeters short of a podium spot.
I’m super happy I raced two ToAD events before Junior Road Nationals. I got a taste of the competition and shook off the nerves. I gained confidence in my field sprint – it’s like adding another weapon.
There are two more ToAD races for our age group, but Max and I are sitting those out to rest up for Road Nationals.
