A beautiful day in the capital city of Frankfort, KY for a quick day of bike racing. I arrived in KY on Friday and had plenty of time to get rest and wait for a late morning start for the downtown crit.
We arrive at the start a bit late. Start time was 11am and we parked at 10:25. I hurried up and got registered, and fortunately the course was clear of racers so I could go get warmed up on the course. Got a good 15 minutes of riding and lined up at the S/F line.
With a few teams with a number of guys in the race, I thought for sure I could pull a few guys off the front and we could get away. The course was flat and fast being approximately .5 miles in length. As we complete the first lap, I attack, and in doing so bring a Mcdonalds guy off the front. With his team having heavy representation in the field, I thought we could sneak away. Bike Clicks went to the front and reeled us in. This was the story of the day... attack, bridge, or jump with others... and get reeled back in over the next few laps. As time ticked away, I settled in to the field and did my time at the front.
With only about 150m from turn 4 to the S/F line, I figured he who leads into that last corner has a good shot at winning if they start their sprint early. Not wanting to partake in all of that fun of trying to funnel through a single lane and onto the wide open homestretch, I decide it is an all or nothing day. We cross the line with two laps to go and head single file through turns 1 and 2. There are two Michelob Ultra guys at the front, then me. As we proceed down the back straight, I launch up the right side and apex turn 3 at full speed, carrying it through turn 4 and into the front straight. I drop my forearms on my bars and tuck my head, trying to poke a tiny hole in the headwind that had been feisty all day. I was able to quickly open up a 7 second gap by the time I made the first turn. I looked back and no one else had countered my move and the group was all together.
I hit the back straight for the final time and tucked and drilled it.
Bombing through turn 3 I looked back and saw they were not going to be able to catch me. Coming down the front straight, I was able to ease up and enjoy the win for WilliamsCycling.
A good day for exposure to our sponsors. Unfortunately the next time we show up in KY to race... we're probably going to be marked.
