Greenville Take 3

Eoin and I traveled to Greenville, SC for the 3^rd time in 3 weeks for the final races in the 2010 Spring Training Series. The first race of the weekend was the River Falls Road Race. This was the most climbing intensive course of the series, with a ~2km climb every lap. There were a total of 10 laps in the race, making up a distance of 66 miles. The roads were very narrow and made moving through the field very precarious. A group of around 20 riders went off the front on the climb during the 3^rd lap.  We were both out of position to make the move. However I was able to get in the next move and chased the front group for the final 3 laps of the race. The gap came down but it was not enough. I finished 2^nd out of my group for a 17^th place finish. Meanwhile Eoin attacked off the front of the peloton in the closing miles with a small group and came across the line in 37^th place.

On day 2 of the weekend, it was the Donaldson Center for the 3^rd time. The racing began in earnest, and as the race progressed the wind picked up. After  we had covered numerous moves during the opening laps, many which looked promising, the peloton was all together midway through the race. A small group of 3 was able to sneak out of the field with one rider bridging to the group. We missed the move but remained active in the field in hopes of bridging to the group. It was just not meant to be today. And as the field came to the line for the sprint I made a move about 800 meters from the line. It was for naught though and a few riders passed me before the line. I came across in 13^th place with Eoin in 17^th. While the results from the weekend were not stellar, the racing was difficult and the way we were able to ride as a team show signs of things to come over the next few weeks.

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