By Jeff Fisher
All I can say is it’s great to have teammates. Neil, everyone one was commenting on how much work you did and how profesional you were. So a high five to all the OA guys in the race and a double high five for Neil.
I can’t speak for Eric but a 47 mile break wasn’t in my plan for the day. I was just covering Paul Richards’ move up the wall and before I knew it we had a gap. Once we hooked up with Eric’s group I figured we might have an outside chance. It took us a bit to really get organized, but we were pretty smooth and nobody stopped taking a turn. At the end of the third lap we looked back and saw the field really close. We upped the pace and kept the pressure on for the entire fourth lap. Ouch, that one hurt, but it had the desired affect. I sort of half attacked after the wall on the last lap, to see what damage I could do and we nearly dropped two of the CCB guys, but that left Eric and I doing the work and giving Paul a free ride. We let the other to guys get back on and then proceeded to keep the pace high until the final turn towards home.
I don’t know about Eric, but I have to admit I was counting down the miles on the last lap. I tried one attack on the hills coming into the finish, but I didn’t drop anyone. Eric put in an acceleration as well but we were still together so he stayed on the front and started leading out the sprint. I knew it was a headwind so I wanted to wait, however I think I waited too long. I started just a little too late and didn’t quite have enough acceleration to come by. Still, a second and a third is not bad.
Eric, thanks for that bottle, it saved me.
Portland Velo Club 