Thursday, May 4th
Fortunately, Steve is wizard-like when it comes to booking top-notch Airbnbs for the team, and we were blessed with the same house that we had last year, just outside of Wenatchee by about 10 minutes. With enough space to make everyone on the team feel as if they are at their very own home (not in a house with 13 others), the team was able to settle in, comfortably, throughout the day on Thursday, after arriving at different intervals. This is the 3rd time so far this year, where almost all of the team is together in a house, so, we are quite dialed when it comes to living together, from making team-dinners, to ensuring that we aren’t tripping over one another as we work to fill 60+ bottles.
Friday, May 5th
Waterville Road Race
The infamous Waterville Road Race kicked us off for a second consecutive year as Stage 1. With gloomy, overcast conditions, it seemed a bit grim to be heading out for a 3hr slugfest, but the energy was high, and the plan was to try and kick away early with 2 of us in the break. For the first hour, a fury of attacks brought the pace up to about 45kph, as most teams were throwing what they had up the road, and covering moves and counter-attacks were following just as hard. It was finally at about the 1h15min mark, where Declan was able to sneak away in one of the tail-wind sections. Pacing himself, he bridged across to a Hewdog rider, who snuck away through the town, and he was able to latch on before the race flipped directions and things were looking a bit head-windy. It was at that point, though, that Campbell also bridged across, as he was seemingly able to slip away, unnoticed and unguarded, and over to the break of the day. The trio rode smoothly together over the course of the next 40k, before the Hewdog rider opted to lay off the pace a bit with Red Truck then pressing on. At its maximum, we were given a gap of about 1’50” by the lead moto, who kept see-sawing back and forth between the main group and us. By the time it was just the two Red Truck Riders out front, the gap had been brought down to about 60”, and it was at that point where the race really started to take its toll. With 35kms remaining, Declan and Campbell worked cohesively, not only to maintain their pace and the gap, but to motivate one another through the pain and suffering of being off the front for nearly 2 hours at that point. With 5km to go, the gap was still hovering at about 50”, and it was clear to them, at that point, that they should be able to stick it through the final tailwind sector and leading up to the finish. With 1km to go, the lights were starting to go out for Declan, and Campbell pressed on, to an impressive victory and to take the coveted pink jersey of the GC Leader.
Saturday, May 6th
TT in the morning:
The time trial course at Tour de Bloom this year was a new out-and-back placed in a windy valley. The foul weather from the day before seemed to have cleared up and the skys were clear but windy. The false flat and tailwind on the way out made for a challenging pacing strategy, however, with some calculations the night before the boys were able to figure it out. Given the relatively flat out-and-back, the parkour ended up suiting Dan and Campbell quite well given they took 3rd and 1st, respectively.. With Campbell and Dan now sitting 1-2 in the General Classification, the men were looking to take time bonuses in the crit and take the win for the second year in a row.
Crit in the evening:
This infamous Bloom crit has always been a team favourite with the finish straight leading into a cobbled downhill left hander. Another aspect that the team had to factor in was how the crit becomes dark half way through. With some recon laps done beforehand the whole mens team was ready to take the win and defend the leaders jersey. Red Truck rode the race pretty defensively, as the intention was to keep it together for Dan in the sprint. Due to a crash in an earlier race, the men’s race was shortened by 10 minutes, but it retained the same number of bonus second primes, cash primes, and crowd primes. After the plethora of primes thrown at the men throughout the race, everything was all kept together thanks to the help of Declan, Remy, Sam, Aiden, and Caleb. With 2 laps to go Campbell led Dan out for a close 2nd place, as there was an unfortunate timing issue with Dan’s shift leading up to one of the last corners. Fortunately, though, it was a Red Truck alum who took the win, so it wasn’t far from our grasp. Overall a very positive team collaboration.
Sunday, May 7th
Plain Road Race
The race organizers opted to move the start time of the Men's P1/2 race to noon, up from a 9AM start the year prior. This was a tremendous help for the team, as the energy from the crit the night prior never really settled down until about midnight. Plain is also 1hr outside of Wenatchee, but closer to home for us, so it was a bit of a commute getting there. On the drive into the course, you are able to get a good view of the finishing climb, and in the warmup to the race, some of the men’s team took to the finishing climb to get a sense of how it may hurt in a few hours time. The race kicked off at noon, and exploded for the first hour, setting a vicious pace of 45kph, due to the sheer number of attacks that were launched by the opposition and then later closed down by Red Truck. The goal on the day was to play it safe and ensure that we could give Campbell the easiest possible ride up to the hill finish. With some serious moves going in that first hour, Campbell did have to take action to hop on the wheels that were headed up the road, but after that first hour, the boys were able to let a non-threatening break go up the road, and then set a steady tempo with the main group just to ensure that things didn’t get too far out of hand. For the next 40-50k, Red Truck rode the front, maintaining a gap to the break of about 30-45 seconds, however, the group started to get a bit antsy, and at times, Team Georges, who had a guy in 3rd on GC, looked to expose the Red Truck train. In the last 20k leading up to the finish, things became pretty challenging to keep control of, but Campbell was well positioned and looking good going up to the finishing climb. Campbell controlled the finishing climb the best he could and paced himself so he could keep the GC overall. Red Truck 1st on GC and 1st on Team GC. Good weekend all around!