I brought my sprinting legs to the race, but I didn't use them sparingly. Team Dayton and Airborne both had good attendance for the race. At times it seemed that they were tripping over each other.
The first half of the race was punctuated with short, futile attempts to form a break. The head wind on the back side of the course shutdown more breaks than anything. On my last break attempt, the promoter flung a prime on us and that is where the race went south. I picked up the prime (a massage, tires would have lasted much longer) and shortly thereafter a counter attack ensued. Hoping that the break would come back again, I went back to the pack to recover for another counter. The problem with that approach is that sometimes they don't come back. With the well represented break, Airborne and TD slowed the race down considerably. I wanted to be there so bad, but Chris Bean was up there and I didn't want to shut it down on him.
I resigned myself to trying to pick up primes and staying near the front to hitch a ride should someone try to bridge. I also learned that the main straight is just a little too long to sprint from the corner even with a tailwind. After that failed attempt, Brian, the junior from Airborne attempted his bridge. It was another missed opportunity, but he was swallowed up by the peloton before the finish.
Even though I was out of phase with the race, I did get to test the sprinting legs. I can definitely tell that the track racing is helping. Hopefully, next race, I'll be able to stay fresh to sprint and be fortunate to be in the right move.
