Chequamegon - The good, the bad, and the Ugly

At the starting line I knew it was going to be fast, but I had no idea how fast. Looking around I saw all the local guns scatterd between several national superstars along with some world class athletes. The road lead out was crazy as usual with several crashes near the rear and tire burns at the front. I was riding the north side of the road trying to avoid the wind and keep out of trouble for the majority of 77. I hit Rosey's field on Hall's wheel rounding out the top ten. Rosey's was managable but when we hit the birkie I was on the rivet! Swanson threw down hard going ballistic on one of the first climbs. I was about ten riders back watching it unfold. I was waiting for the big counter but no one had it. Mike, Doug, Brown, and JHK were off the front! After brief shock we had a stacked chase group with Hall, Matter, Tristan, Ian, Tj, Phillips and myself. Our group worked together for the most part but I know some were in deep debt. I was feeling strong at OO when Tj made a little acceleration; I followed and pulled through. We had a short lived gap but with Hall and Ian in chase it didn't last long. My bad luck came just after the lake when an air borne stick jammed between my frame and chain. I was only off the bike for ten seconds, but thats all it took. For five miles I was chasing hard and came within 20 yards.....not enough I was OTB! I still had twelve miles to go so I put it in TT mode to save a top ten.

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In the end I was a couple minutes behind my group but can't help but wonder what could have been, I was feeling strong. Big congrats to all the finishers especially Tj and Jesrin for awesome results!

Happy Recovery
Chad