Friday mid-day we laid out to ride over to the Oakley shop to get our numbers. London is among those cities where riding is absolutely faster than attempting to drive or take public transportation. Besides a traumatic minute with a large red dual decker bus, and also brief minute where Santos failed to remember to ride on the left hand side of the roadway, the flight to the Oakley shop was a blast. We went across the tower Bridge, absorbed the sight of the Thames, and also got in the pressure of the city. We travelled along the Thames and also gotten on the bike course to get away the large red buses, and also made our means to take a look at Huge Ben and also Parliament. After packing ourselves right into a London phone cubicle and also breaking some images of Huge Ben, we rode by Buckingham Royal residence and after that onto obtain race numbers.
So 2 espresso shots and and sandwiches later, we hammered back to our apartment in Greenwich. There is almost nothing more enjoyable than hammering down the street between cars stuck in big city rush hour, as those poor suckers watch in envy as you pedal away. We grabbed a quick shower (as quick as 8 people and 2 bathrooms can shower) and then left for dinner and the RHC London Pre-Party where we enjoyed a cold beer and the company of some good friends and competitors. Guys like Aldo and Colin from Team Specialized, Ronnie from Leader Bikes, and Zac Felpel from Heavy Pedal, and Ash Duban are truly our friends and it was great to see them, even though we would be battling against them the next day.
Race day is always a little stressful. I have to get to the course early to get our car in the team area, so it is normally a 12 hour plus day for me. The riders are all nervous about a race that most of them flew across an ocean attend. I left the apartment around 9 AM, and the racers showed up a few hours later. Redbeard was the first to qualify. Unfortunately he was in a group with no teammates, so he would have to find strong riders to work with and set a good qualification time. Nonstop and Nissy had plans to work together in their qualifying group, but somehow got separated and never really saw each other. Luckily Frenchy and Santos had each other to work with. The fact that the other riders know our guys are strong helps a bunch, because then the other riders are willing to work with them. Nissy and NonStop qualified 16th and 32nd. Not as high up as I would have liked, but luckily it is a little easier to move up in the women’s race compared to the men’s. Frenchy and Santos qualified in the top 20, but Redbeard had to start at 71. We had 2 of our guys in a really good starting position, but Redbeard was going to have a challenge on his hands.
The men’s race started fast as usual. Unfortunately for Redbeard, there was a crash right in front of him at the first corner. Brandon is a great bike handler and managed to stay upright, but he instantly went to nearly last place and was starting from almost a dead stop. Brandon has a huge diesel engine, and he spent the entire race passing riders and moved up to 38th place, but that was the best he could manage. If Brandon can qualify in a better position, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with. While Redbeard was trying to inch his way to the front, Santos and Olivier were duking it out in the front. Just over the halfway point, Santos attacked and Colin Strickland went with him. This was pretty much a best case scenario, as Colin and Dave are both great breakaway riders. Colin has shown himself to be unstoppable since he won Milan for Aventon last year. And while he is now racing against us, he is still a great breakaway partner. Unfortunately the move didn’t stick. I honestly think that David dug a little too deep on the initial attack, and he just couldn’t stick with Colin. I’m not taking anything away from Colin. He is a beast right now, and he proved that by counterattacking himself. Who does this!? Colin is just on point at the moment. From there the race was basically a repeat for Brooklyn. Colin rode away while Aldo patrolled the front. Colin’s gap slowly and steadily grew until he had a nearly insurmountable lead. A hard chasing Loic Chetuout may have actually caught Colin if the race were a couple laps longer. But Colin stayed away with Chetout coming in just behind the field sprinting for third. Santos was 4th in the field and sprinted to get himself a 6th place, literally inches from the podium. A few hours later I told the Specialized guys (Colin and Aldo) that I was pissed that they keep beating us. I’m not pissed at them, as those guys are truly my friends. I bought them a beer, told them we would get them next time, and made plans to go stay with Aldo in Slovenia after RHC Milan. Tomorrow I would leave for Paris and then Dijon with Santos and NonStop.
This was the most talented RHC women’s field ever assembled. Besides the normal cast of characters, you had pro rider Jamine Dotti, and multiple time world championand Olympic god medalist Dani King. Our girls were going to have a rough day. As it turns out EVERYONE had a rough day. Dani king simply out classed everyone. She lapped most of the field before the halfway point in the race. With a few laps to finish she lapped the only 2 riders that had not been pulled, so Ash Duban and Jasmine Dotti sprinted for second place while the rest of the field licked their wounds and watched the race on the big screen.
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