OKC Pro Am Day 3 | Race Recap
Sunday was going to be a mental game for all of us and I knew coming into it that I would have to be more aggressive than the days before. Friday and Saturday’s races were controlled by Holowesko Citadel who finished the races with field sprints both days setting their teammates up to finish 1st and 2nd. On Friday night, DNA tried a few moves but we couldn’t get them to stick. In the field sprint on Friday night, we managed to go 9th and 25th with me finishing in the last spot for money. On Saturday Brenden made a break that almost stuck, only getting caught on the last lap. We attempted to get Julio up to the field sprint but he flatted with 7 laps to go and I had already used up all my matches trying to get him in a good position for the last lap. We had a frustrating race not being able to get into position in the end. Sunday, I was motivated to make a strong come back. I told myself I would ride harder and more aggressively. I wanted to make something happen for our team. The course was technical and had six sharp turns with no real good line coming out of the corners. With debris and holes all over the road in each turn every move had to be a smart one. The race began with super aggressive speeds and all the DNA guys were stepping up their game staying towards the front trying to control the field. Somewhere around 20 laps to go, I went for a prime that I thought was $125 (turns out it was only $25) but that left me off the front for a couple of laps. Eventually, I was brought back by the field. I sat in and somehow managed to follow Colin Strickland off the front two laps later. We ended up creating a gap, both of us rode as hard as we could to maintain it. The pace was high and I was right on the edge the whole time. He would take a pull and I would be right on my limit hardly gaining a second to recover. Around 12 laps to go, Kyle Swanson bridged up to us. Once he got there, it made our break even stronger and gave us some hope that we could keep pushing the pace enough to keep the pack away. The odds felt like they were against us. Three to four laps after Swanson was there, Strickland pulled himself out due to an illness he had been fighting all week, leaving us back to only two. We thought we were definitely going to be brought back at this point. I would look back and see Holowesko closing in, rotating behind me working together with 6 guys sitting on the front of the group. We knew we didn’t stand a chance. We kept pushing and a few laps later, maybe 5 or 6 to go, another rider bridged across to us. He came with a fresh set of legs, riding well. I knew he was strong and that meant we had one more shot with his energy to keep the break away. Not long after that, Michael Hernandez jumped across. Several primes later, I had to put out extra efforts to not get dropped. We came to one to go and I knew we were going to make it as long as we didn’t stop pushing it. I took one more pull and I began to think about how I was going to try to win. I came out of the last corner sitting 3rd or 4th wheel and was able to sprint well enough to finish 2nd. The Holowesko guys must have miss timed their effort because the official gap was only 2 seconds. Even though I didn’t win, it was still an excellent race for me. We had so much support from the crowd as this was DNA’s home field, their energy was powerful. It was one of the best days I have had on the bike even though I finished second. A special thank you to all of my DNA racing teammates who raced and who helped put on OKC PRO AM this year. It was awesome.
Thank you to our many sponsors! DNA Racing, Garneau, Vittoria, Elemental Coffee, Anthem Brewing
The Numbers
Distance: 34 miles
Speed: 27.8 mph
Power: 281 avg power
Heart Rate: 177 avg
Work: 1173 kj
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