Tour De Bowness

135km Road Race

20k in, a pair break away and we let them go. Big mistake, they stayed away for the rest of the race!
2nd half of the first lap, I spent a lot of time at the front, trying to keep the pace going, but didn't get much help.
2nd lap, pace seems like it's getting slower and I'm still at the front, so I convince Evan Burtnik to drive the pace up on a roller. End up in a 3 man break w/ Andrew Rockwell. I'm liking this mix, so we bust it for about half a lap. Unfortunately our break is caught right at the base of the big KOM hill (crappy place to get caught).
Soon after the hill, Evan jumps again with someone else. They stay away, so now I'm thinking we're racing for 5th.
3rd time up the hill, Andrew and a couple guys get away,  and I'm convinced we're now out of the points.
We still have Barrie and Lukas, both good sprinters, so my new goal is to mark those two guys.
We end up catching all the breakaway gang (except for the first 2) with about 10 km to the finish.
Pace immediately softens until about the final Km.
Final rise it strings out a little, but everyone is being very cautious.
With 250m to go, an opening forms in front of me. I make a quick decision, knowing it's probably too far, into a cross wind, but with a big pack still remaining, I don't want to risk getting tangled up with people standing up to sprint so I decide to jump!
Nothing but silence for what seems like minutes, I can see the finish, and then voom-voom-voom... The 2 Juventus boys and Barrie go flying by, maybe 20m from the line!
End up 4th in the sprint, 6th overall.

3-Up Hill Climb

The format of this race is a little different. It's considered a time trial, however races go up Canada Olympic Park hill in heats of 3. This allows for some interesting tactics, drafting, pacing, etc.
Except when you're two heat-mates don't show up. :(
Then it's just me, and the long, lonely road up the side of a bobsled hill.

Despite pleading with the commissaire at the start line to group me with individuals behind me, he adamantly refuses saying it's too complicated, etc. Wouldn't ya know it though, he somehow managed to uncomplicate it 2 minutes when he paired Evan B up with Mark Faas, who were both without partners!

I had a decent warmup, but definitely felt the residual wear and tear from the Saturday race.
As I take off I settle in nicely to my target wattage and plough through the first half of the course, against the NW head winds. But my legs start to ache, as they should, and I decide not to argue with them on this day.
I'm not a hill climber on the best of days, but I would have fought tooth and nail to hang on to someone else's wheel had there been one, so I resolved to resist the self-mutilation and live to fight another day.
Ended up about 30s slower than last years time.
Good news is that I'm still in 7th in the Omnium, and can possibly make up a couple spots next in the Crit.

Criterium

Not killing myself in the HC the day before was a good idea. I had a long warmup, and felt great the whole race, moving easily from 10th-3rd place at will.
2nd last lap, the pack is strung out in the final straight away and the guy in front of me lets a huge gap open in front of him. Crap!
I have to burn my one and only sprint match just to get around him and regain the pack. By then I'm pretty cooked and going into the final sprint I was way out of position, and couldn't move up any places at all. Finished 11th. Managed to snag 7th overall in the Omnium so at least my race fees are offset by my prize money! :)