I took first place in the UCSC Slug Fest crit yesterday afternoon. The race took place on a flat, five-corner closed course near Salinas airport. The field had only nine riders, including teammate Leo.
The officials rang the bell for a prime about 25 minutes into the race. After the intermediate sprint, a few riders counter-attacked and a four man break was formed: It was me, two guys from Squadra SF, and another rider.
One of the Squadra SF guys was the de facto captain of the break, telling us to work together, stay smooth, not to skip pulls, etc. I liked him. I could see right away that either he and I were the strongest of the four or the other two were sitting in by intentionally skipping pulls and taking short pulls. I figured it out about 20-25 minutes later when one of the guys fell off after a few hard efforts. Another lap or two later and it was just me and the captain.
I pulled hard on the first part of the final lap and then took a turn wide, letting him through on the inside. This forced him to lead out the final section of the course. We had a large enough lead for a lot of cat-and-mouse (which I learned to love at the track) but he didn't try any funny business. The captain just ramped up the pace and sprinted for the line. I was able to pass him with about 10 meters to go.
From another angle:
From another angle:
It felt good. Not as good as my crit win last year at Sea Otter Classic. But it's nice to get an early season victory.
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