The day had started off quite well...Jeff Andreas and I made our way out of the city right as the exit gates on the highway of doom were closing and were greeted in Elgin by our teammates; Eric, Nick, Matt, Jason K. and Tim.  We rode around a bit, saw some wildlife and watched a bit of bike racing...everything was going well, really.  And then it came time for us to take to the line and begin our race. 

 The prizes and primes were heavy and the course would not give them away easily.  With a descent into an ultra technical chicane that exited at the base of a deceptively difficult hill and the obligatory headwind section this was no 4-corner office park. Even with these challanges ahead the pack was unusually cordial at the start line.  Perhaps a long Superweek filled with strange faces, ragged riders and bicycles held together by shear will power has instilled in us a sense of comfort when surrounded by the same Joe's one sees every weekend.  In any event spiritys were high, really.

 Almost instantly there were a flurry of attacks.  Having the strongest team present is was a foregon conclusion that anything with any chance of staying away would have to contain at least one vitaminwater-Trek rider.  Yet even with the attacks and some harrowing passes through the chicane everyone was really enjoying themselves.  I recall Matt telling jokes to Thomaz Boba in the back while noshing on cookies...!

At one point, no further than 3 laps in a rider somehow managed to get himself a sizable gap over the field and looked committed to the long haul.  Not intending to bridge I went to the front of the field to ignite a chase.  Soon enough I was hovering in no-man's land slowly making my way up to the lone rider.  Of course as soon as I did he slowed and the field swallowed us whole.  Even though it was a huge energy expenditure it was fun and I kinda liked being back in the pack... I chatted with Jeff and even said hello to Nick. 

A lap later a break of 4 containing our own Jason K. made their way off the front though it seemed as if they too were longing for the good old times of the peloton.  As they were reintegrated SRAM's own Michael Zellman on the horn started throwing out primes... After a particularly tempting one of $150 the pack slowed as they approached the descent.  Now I'll say that I really was having a jolly time surrounded by friendly faces and had no reason to exit the peloton but for some reason, something deep down inside told me to go.  Down the descent, through the chicane, up the hill and around the corner I motored.  Coming toward the home stretch I took a glance back to find that Chip of Get A Grip had joined me though the expression on his face led me to believe he too was wondering why he had left the friendly peolton for the lonely ether. 

 And so for the next 30 mons or so Chip and I went anti-social.  We split primes thrown at us in an attempt to disrupt our pace, took even and sharing pulls, and even had words of encouragement throughout the ordeal...  On the second to last lap the pack had almost caught us and a lone rder was making the bridge.  As he shot by us I jumped hard, like several matches hard to stay on his wheel and what the pack thought had been the end of our break was now infused with new energy.  We pushed hard around the last lap and prepared for the sprint.  Knowing I was with two accomplished sprinters I opted to go even more anti-social and jumped into the last corner, some 300m from the finish.  The gap held until about 30ft from the finish where my break companions demonstrated what a winning sprint looks like.

 In the end a 3rd place, a ton of money and a chance to revisit the razor's edge that is a breakaway was had and it was a blast, really.