Race #9
Fulton Cat 4/5 Road Race
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The Fulton road race was the end of my May training cycling. And after not being able to get my nose in the sprint in my last two crits I was looking forward to a long hilly road race with an uphill finish to help sort things out and end the month on a good note.
I was not disappointed.
The race itself wasn't too eventful. We went up hills. We went down hills. Repeat. There was a bit of organization from some teams during some of the attacks/chases but in typical cat4/5 fashion the brakes mostly came back on their own. On the last lap I was expecting an attack on the hills. We rode them aggressively but no one jumped off so things were set up for a field sprint.
Coming into the last 1k there was maybe 1/2 of the 71 starters still together. Having lost a little position on the last climb I was sitting about 15th-20th and boxed in by the yellow line. I was still in this position and chomping at the bit with 300m to go when the road opened up for the uphill finish and there was already a rider off the front going for the early sprint. The field was giving chase along the right side of the road but hadn't started sprinting yet. I worked my way up and 200m to go and the line in sight I knew it was time for me to go. I got all the way on the left of the road, took the safety off, and fired.
I must have caught the pelaton napping or covering each other because I didn't see anyone respond and I was able to jump clear. The rider who had gone early was running out of steam fast and I passed him about 20m from the line. I crossed the line in disbelief but in 1st place for the 3rd time this year.
Since it wasn't a USA Cycling sanctioned race I got no upgrade points (otherwise I would have gotten 10 and gotten my upgrade) but I did take home $80 in cash.
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