Sometimes you're the hammer. Sometimes.........

Sedalia Crit......... What can I say, it's fun, fast, and really dark. Well....it's actually really well lit for starting at 9:00PM. I love to do the PRO,1,2,3 race here as the field is usually small but fast, just what I need before Gateway cup weekend. But like I said, Sometimes you're the hammer, and sometimes you're the nail. At Sedalia Brian Jensen was the hammer and there were 28 other nails out there on bikes. I got in an early attack with Ethan and another guy that got out there but without Brain we were doomed. Sure enough after a while we were caught and the fireworks began. Brian started attacking over and over until he got away. I was hanging on and there's not much room to slide back in the field with 28 guys in the race. So as I'm beginning to eat my lunch all over again Brian finally get's away with 4 other guys. Great......half the money is up the road all ready. Being the awesome sprinter that I am it's going to be tough to make any money tonight. In the meantime Scott is riding great, hanging out at the front of the field and staying out of the wind. So the break is gone, the field slows, and it's not too long before I see Brian fly by as the break laps the field. Brian is towing a few more guys away from the field so I try to bridge with Nolan and another guy. We get close but can't bridge the gap, but the field does get close enough to bring them back. It doesn't take long before Brain is off again as we get the 5 to go. The speed picks up and with 1 to go Scott takes the front and picks up the pace even more. We get swarmed a bit with two turns to go but I go into the last turn 3rd wheel. The sprint is pretty tight but my guess is that I could be anywhere from 7th to 12th. Well..... I ended up 12th but I'm not going to argue, I'm pretty happy with my race anyway. Scott ended up 19th, way to get up that hill big guy! David Hedjuk was there as well and got 10th nipping me at the line, yep, a blanket toss field sprint finish in the dark, got to love it.


For the past few years this weekend has been the warm-up for Gateway Cup. Sedalia Saturday night followed by working/riding the Tour de Shawnee. I've been riding the 1,2,3 race in Sedalia because it starts at 9:30pm and it's fast. Problem is, you get home after the race and into bed around 1am. Then have to be up at 6am to get set-up to work the Tour de Shawnee.



Jonas can with me this year and here are some Post and Pre ride pictures at the Tour de Shawnee. It was his first ride in a large group and as much as I tried to talk about setting a reasonable pace he wanted to pass as many people as possible. Lesson learned. He was baked by the end of the ride but pretty proud to be able to finish.

As usual we had the crew working the tent before the ride, during the ride via cars, and a crew on bikes fixing flats as they rode. Nice turnout and awesome weather.

Now to get some sleep and recover for next weekend.