One time at this race in Belgium, I mean Zamora...

Billy kicked the day off by saying, “You think this is cold? There was this one race in Belgium…”. Zamora, California isn’t Belgium, but the cold air and wind resembled a nice day on the Flemish Coast. With sewing machine legs, goose bumps, and chattering teeth I began to wonder why are we doing this. Because it’s fun?
Homework for this road race was on our team website: http://www.teamspecializedracing.com/index.php?page=cross-wind-racing-2.
JUNIORS READ THIS TIP.
Huddled behind a barn waiting of the 8 o’clock start, our team meeting was quick and concise: "go to the front and hammer at the first cross wind section...". This predetermined point was about 3 miles into the 60 mile race. As soon as we got to this section the pace heated up, and Kevin and I found ourselves in an early break. At mile 8, we had about 30 seconds on the chasing field when Billy came across with notorious spring terrorists (Dan Martin, Nathan Parks, and Chris Phipps). This was the last time I saw the main field.

The race started off windy and only got windier as the day progressed. The conditions separated the riders who had fitness from the pretenders. Unfortunately some of our riders, with great fitness, got caught up with those who couldn't hack or didn’t want to stick their noses out into the wind. Frustrating?

Going into the final lap, on the 10 mile course, the breakaway was Kevin Metcalfe, Billy Innes, Dan Martin, Nathan Parks, Chris Phipps, Dave Nelson, Rich Del Valle, Steve McCaw, and me. With less than 8 miles to go, Kevin made the leap of faith and attacked the group. Ironically, it was almost the same place where the break originated. This put the burden on Parks, Martin, and Phipps to chase while Billy and I rode the slot. Kevin dangled just off the front, but none of the chasers could close the gap. At 2 miles to go, this random sheep appeared on the left side of the road. As the chasing group passed, the critter spooked and began running along the road just in front of us. About 100 feet down the road, the poor bugger was almost shorn as it crossed right in front of the chasers. Parks avoided disaster as he popped out of a pedal. The sheep then paced us down the road on the right side before piling itself into a fence. Sheep aside, the terrorists regrouped and began chasing again. Whew! Around 1 mile to go, going over a small hill, aka the KOM, Kevin’s effort seemed futile, but the hardest section, a brutally windy and exposed 300 meter stretch, was between us and the finish. At this point the chase had whittled down to Dan, Nathan, Chris, Billy, and me. Kevin gave no indication of surrender as Nathan and Dan continued their pursuit. The pace proved to be too much for Chris and me as we popped off the back. Kevin's supernatural abilities took hold as he continued to fight for and finish with a very respectable solo win. Billy swiftly and cleanly won the sprint for 2nd. I rolled in solo for 5th.

That was fun!
The post race stories blame the sheep for Kevin’s success. A sheepish excuse?

Photos complements of Pete Whitbeck http://www.peterwhitbeck.com/