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Saturday morning started with a 4:30 am wake-up call only to look out the window to see snow falling in down town Richmond Virginia. This is the site of the first annual US Open Cycling Championships. Not only is the race a highly ranked UCI event but it also had two hours of national broadcasting on NBC. The race consisted of a 65 mile trek from the historic town of Williamsburg to Richmond. Once entering Richmond we would do eight six mile circuits through downtown and up the cobbled Libby Hill.

The van ride to the race start didn’t quite have the same enthusiasm that one might expect, it could have been due to the 8:00 am race start but I’m pretty sure it was the near blizzard conditions that kept everyone a bit subdued. Having just flown in from sunny San Diego the previous day I was wondering if I even had enough clothes in my duffle bag to avoid hypothermia.

The race officials delayed the start over an hour hoping that the weather would clear up so they could get the video feeds. This extra time gave up plenty of time to come up with ingenious ideas of how to keep our feet and hands warm. Lots of plastic bags and tape were being passed around to be used on our feet, and my favorite was the latex surgical gloves under our regular gloves for a water proof barrier.

It was finally time to climb out of the van and head to the start line, after some of the towns people fired off their muskets it was time to race. The race started fast since everyone had the same idea of getting into the early break and try to grab some TV time for the sponsors. After an hour of fast racing without a break being established the snow finally let up and the sun started to come out. This was a welcome sight since I was so cold my legs felt like they were encased in concrete, every acceleration was a shock to my body.

Evan was finally able to make the first break of the day with five other riders including Henk Vogels and Redlands winner Andy Bajadali. They worked well together but the peloton was keen to keep them on a short leash. After about fifteen miles their break was brought back.

Another dangerous break that slipped away contained Willo and ten other strong threats but Toyota was determined to keep the race together and brought back that move as well. It was apparent the real racing would start once we hit the circuits in Richmond. Heading into the circuits we had Tim Henry helping Trent and I to the front going into the cobble climb, it was chaotic the first time up the hill but everyone stayed upright and well positioned.

After one circuit completed I realized how tough this race was going to be. Trent was looking the best out of our guys. I was hoping to have good legs for the last few circuits since I had been relatively conservative early on but my day was cut short on the third circuit when I got tangled up with the railroad tracks.I crashed hard at thirty miles per hour and then had a few riders run into the back of me as well. It took me a minute to realize that I hadn’t broken anything. I walked away with only a bit of road rash on my right side, so although I was out of the race I considered myself really lucky.

Later that same lap Willo made a break of five others that looked like it could be the race winning move. In fact, it was the race winning move because Sven Tuft and Pat McCarty attacked out of this group and stayed away for first and second. But what was left of Willo’s group wasn’t working that well together because Dominguez was sitting on in the break.

Further back in what was left of the peloton we had Cody and Austin with their Belgian racing experience marking any attack that went up the road. With one lap to go Willo’s group was caught by another ten riders including Evan. The last time up the climb Willo showed his strenth and rode in the front and attacked over the top taking eight guys with him.

After a great race Willo ended up in seventh place and Evan came in for sixteenth. It was rumored that Evan never left his big chainring the whole day! Cody was the next to finish after riding a terrific race. It was a good day for the team and a good morale boost heading into our toughest race of the year, Tour De Georgia.

-Neil Shirley

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