Andrew's Report from Calabogie Road Classic

We were a small team today with only 4; Charlie, Greg, Ryan and myself. The field too was also small, only about 40 guys. And in traditional Calabogie fashion, it was cool (about 10 degrees) and quite windy. Obviously ideal conditions for an early breakaway to go.

We didn't have a real plan except get a man in the early break and keep Greg and Ryan in the pack in case it all comes back together for the finish. For the first 40k, the field tried and tried to get a breakaway gone, but it just wouldn't until it finally did. We were trying to get at least one of us in it, but to no avail. And once that plan didn't succeed, the next goal was to try and get into the chase group. I saw the chase group start when Aaron Fillion attacked up the complete opposite side of the road. I tried to get on his wheel for about 500m, but I just dangled less than a bike length off him and I just couldn't close that infernal gap. And poof, he was gone and then he was joined by a few others and the team completely missed out.

From there, it was just try and keep the pace of the pack going, just in case who knows what happens up front. I ended up in small second chase group of 3 on the 3rd last lap, but I knew that it was just for the leftover scraps, and to have a good hard effort for the last 20minutes of a 110k road race. You never know when you're going to be in that situation but going for a win. In the end, the breakway stayed clear, and we stayed clear and I was outsprinted (no big surprise there) for 16th place and I finished up 18th. On the plus side, we all finished the race and stored a few fitness dollars in the fitness jar for the bigger races later in the year.