St. Cloud Stop and Go RR

A missed flight in Dublin allows for some RR action in St. Cloud on Saturday. Stone and I rolled the Volvo out about 7:30. Stopped at a secret Dunn Bros in the northern burbs and headed west on 94. After a little confusion as to where the sign-up was, we had about 10 minutes to pee and warm up before the rollout start in the Cat4 race. The cat 4 was combined with the Cat 4/5 Over 30 race, so the field was a good size.

the first of 2 22 mile loops started slow for the first half and was flying for the second half. No attacks in lap one to mention. No good spots to really make a move and the wind seemed to be in the face no matter which way we rode. With only one big climb, everthing stayed together for the first 25 miles.

A few miles into lap two, a couple guys jumped and got a nice gap. Stone decided to go and caught those guys and seemed to be putting a good gap on. The main group, going super slow started arguing (silly) and so I decided to jump too. Dumb. Right when I did, the main field did too and soon everyone was back together...sorry Stone! I started fading pretty bad after my little show and I was struggling to stay with the group...then I hear "Get back in there" in a very familiar accent. Dag was rolling the course in support of Bjorn I suppose. For a second I thought I was in a cross race....with a little help from Dag I back in the main field where I sat and recovered pretty well.

For the next 10 miles it surge and slow, surge and slow and I was getting sick of it. I knew I wasn't going to get away, but wanted to get some hard miles in, so away I went about a mile before the big climb. It would have been a good spot for a move if I had Otree like hammer capabilities....but, I got a little gap, kept things honest and strung everyone out, which always puts a smile on your face. It turned into solid training for O2S. I kept that pace to the big climb, got dropped and then fought the last 10 miles with some others to get back to the main group. Worked hard with a U of M dude with OneOnOne socks to get to a 4 man group. Once with them, we all worked together ran a nice paceline home.
Big crash at the finish for the sprinters, so I'm really glad I didn't sit in and wait for that action. They kept the sprint to one lane? I was fully worked at the end and the High Life's Stone and I enjoyed were a perfect end to the day.

Stone rode a nice race and almost got away on the only attack that had promise. Good action all round.