First - gotta congratulate my brother Richie and his wife Sandy on the birth of their second daughter, Lindsey Erin. I would be remiss to not mention that her big sister Elise, my Godchild, will be 3 next week (and the author will also be - ugh - a year older...). I further understand from my little brother that Payton, the Puggle, would like to be a star. So I put her on the blog today. Nice underbite...
We could not have had better weather today - perfect in every way. I was feeling good and confident that I would do well today. The course was pretty straightforward - flat and fast with 4 turns, corner 3 being more than 90 degrees and corner 4 a bit tight before a long sprint home. The 1/2/3 field was pretty small without much team representation except for ABD and Alberto's, each with 2 riders. There were a couple of strong sprinters present so I knew my work was cut out for me. We only raced 40min +2 so I was hoping to get away with someone else and get a break to stick but nothing seemed to work. I took a prime along the way, just to test the legs and get a better idea of how to time the final sprint. There were a few small breaks along the way and I worked to keep the pace high after every prime that I didn't contest hoping to wear some other riders down a bit. Things otherwise stayed pretty much together until about 1 1/2 laps to go when Jen Greenberg from XXX-Athletico took a risky flyer that (amazingly) everyone seemed content to let go. On the last lap I decided that I had to chase and in so doing, also decided that I had to straight up win the field sprint since it was obviously too late to catch Jen. I did just that. I am totally happy for Jen - she's a strong rider and deserved to win today.
Thanks to CJ and Bill for swinging by to watch as well as all my Judson buddies that were on hand to race and cheer(thanks Scott!). Way to go Ken Schiffman, Mike Jones, Bill Nedza, Pat McNally, Chris McNally, Dan Rudrud, Troy Henikoff (with Karlen and Addison), Dave Scher, Lou Kuhn, Jerry Ortega, Bob Issac, Brian Kavanaugh and everyone else not listed who raced today. Special thanks to the town of Glencoe and Alberto's for hosting and sponsoring the event in it's inaugural year. I hope the GGP becomes a fixture on the midwest racing calendar for years to come.
As a sidenote - to everyone who did the Accenture Triathlon today - well done!!
Up next: the Elaine Nekritz trophy race at the track on Thursday. I'm ready!!
