Del Mar #1 or The Blue Train of Pain!

Del Mar #1. The importance of this race was not lost on the squad at all. It was a race we could win. To make things interesting a handful of 'hitmen' showed up. Yup-the Foregin Legion heard about our little race and came down to play.

Matt Wilson- Team Type 1, Aussie RR Champ, 2x TdF competitor
Ben Brooks- Team Type 1, Giro competitor, hard mofo, Aussie Champ
Hilton Clarke- Toyota-United, winner of countless races, Aussie Champ
Caleb Manion- Toyota-United, another hard Aussie mofo, always in the top 5
Matty Rice- Jelly Belly, yet another hitter from Oz

For kicks we also had 3 Rock racers: Rashaan Bahati, Justin Williams, and Iggy Silva- all multiple US champions. And there was also the usual assortment of SoCal teams and fast guys, SDBC, 5 Star/WVO. It was not gonna be an easy Wednesday night training crit.

Game on.

The gun was fired promptly @ 7:25pm and we were off for a 'neutral' lap behind the Hoehn Motors Honda Element pace car. We were jockeying for position and when the Element pulled off, the Foreign Legion PUT IT DOWN! Our pre-race meeting was basically, stay safe, stay up front, and stay upright! Immediately, all the guys came up front! Jose, Marc, Skyler, Dana, Zack, myself, and even Rob Carr and Alex Jarman! Guys were coming off the back in packs! The course was tough especially in the dark! Wow! I flatted and headed to the pit. I'll be honest; I didn't want to go back in. The race was dicey in the dark and I didn't want to crash. But I knew the team needed me so I sucked it up and jumped back in. Of coursethen the crash happened. I got gapped with Rob and Jose. Zack and Dana went down. Both looked okay. Unfortunately, we had to chase back to the group. My splinter group chased for about 20 minutes, but we finally rejoined. Then it was time to go to work. The team had missed the break and we had to chase to go for the win or at least limit the damage. Chasing also kept the race safer for everyone-on this difficult course a high pace would keep things smooth and eliminate weaker riders. We got organized, put the entire team on the front, and then rode our guts out for the next 30 minutes. We were keeping the leaders from lapping, but they were just too strong. We switched to leadout mode and kept it fast for Skyler; he was our best chance in the sprint. The guys were pretty wasted. Skyler ended up 4th in the bunch gallop and 10th overall.

It was a huge team effort. Everyone was psyched. 10th was good considering all the work Sky did. But it wasn't about the result really. It was about the ride! We sacked up and rode like pros. The entire team was proud. Skyler summed it "That's how we roll. We're riding like that all season. Like pros. Like a team. On the front."

Here we come.