Ken Woods

Let's start with the weather—absolutely perfect. Pre-race temps were in the 60's with a WNW wind of about 10mph. That meant a tailwind up Sogn Hill, sweet. Last year, it was raining sideways and about 45 or 50 degrees with a monster wind.

Not wanting to race the extra lap with the 3/4's I rolled with the Masters 4/5 30+. We had around 70 guys in this race, wow. It was Tom, FPA and me representing the Blue Train. Tom managed to start right at the front, I was about 10 back and FPA was somewhere behind me I think. Neutral start to the first turn and then WHAM! it's on! Immediately there's a break of about 5 guys, and at this point I can't see who's in it. Once we hit the rollers I catch a glimpse of Blue and realize Tom made the selection. There was a mob of GP and Silver Cycling guys at the front trying to organize the chase. I wasn't sure if the break was serious at this point, so I just sat in and watched. After the 2nd turn, it looked like the break was actually putting some time into us, and the GP & SC boys were trying to ramp it up. I was squeezed on the centerline trying to stay out of the crosswind, but eventually swung around and got on the front and started blocking. I was able to keep doing this for the first lap all the way to the climb before the chase group got really strung out. Those repeated forays into the wind were taking their toll on me and I fell off a bit on the climb. The back of the chase was agonizingly close in front of me, but I couldn't reattach. Finally, a 5 man group swept me up and we traded pulls, finally bridging back mid-way through the east-west section after turn 2. Once we were back, I immediately went to the front and started blocking again. I could see Tom and the breakaway were still away with a good gap, awesome! I kept trying to disrupt the chase until the smaller climb by the river, where I got attacked. I knew I wouldn't reattach this time, but I was hoping that was job done for me. Another groupetto formed and we tried working together, but it didn't really pan out. At least one of the 2 LSC guys gave it a try. He was kind of pissed at his teammate for not getting it. 3 of them tried attacking us on that smaller hill, but we let them go, and swept them up shortly thereafter. Once our group hit the bottom of Sogn Hill I went. I shelled those guys and swept up another rider or two on the way up. It didn't matter at all for my overall placing, but it felt great! Better yet, Tom managed to stay away the entire race and wound up in 3rd (despite breaking a spoke and a brake issue!).

Long story short, this race exemplifies why I love this sport. It really is a team endeavor, and even when you are outnumbered 2 or 3 to 1 by other teams, if you play your cards right you can control the entire race. Big, big props to Tom for crushing it all day. Not sure how FPA fared but I know he finished, which is always a good thing.