Bryan Moritiz of Bikes2You attacked right off the bat and I got sucked onto his wheel in a quick break. When that didn't work, the reality of how aggressive this field was began to set in, as the pace was fast and furious... and it never let up.
At one point, I found myself in a nice break with two guys each from Bikes2You, Zealous Racing and Mercy-Specialized...yes! I was a bit tanked, but tried to contribute as I could. Ryan French attacked from within the break, which broke up the momentum (at least for me). We were eventually reeled back in.
The breaks weren't working, so I just tried to hang on, and focused on the sprint. I held my position well to end up 13th... I finished 13th last year in this event as a Cat 3, so just that much better to do it at the Cat 1/2 level. Derek Cassady of Bikes2You raced to perfection, winning the Gold medal. Adam Price of Mercy-Specialized earned the Silver, and Lane Anderson of Team Zealous got the Bronze. Congrats.
SQUAW CREEK CRITERIUM - 6/27/10
On Sunday, we raced 20 laps over a 1.6 mile circuit that had one noteworthy climb and a steep descent on a corner. I was feeling pretty good, and decided to protect my 'yellow jersey' as I was getting tour fever. In my fictional scenario, I had just one stage left to defend my lead, so it was important that I didn't let any of the GC contenders slip up ahead.
To that end I participated in this race quite significantly. Below is one of the many breaks that formed, this one featuring myslef, Bryan Moritz and a guy from Team Zealous...
I found myslelf launching off the front quite a few times, and led on the downhill more times than not. There were all sorts of combinations of riders that took their chances at creating a gap.
Dewey Dickey seemed to be the marked rider, especially towards the end of the race. He would pick up the pace on the uphill portion, and then look to see if there was a big enough of a gap. Usually he didn't like what he saw, and dialed it back. It took quite a few tries before his breakaway actually did succeed.
When it did there were seven off us, briefly... but only Dewey, Jared Osterloh, and Jeff Kluck (A Cat 3 on Team Powerade) could hang on. This was the decisive moment of my race. As can be seen in this photo, I was joined by Paul Deninger, Brian West, and a third rider (from Zealous Racing?), as we chased down the lead group of three while hoping to fend off the field. 
Our group of four was brought back with about 2 laps to go, while Dewey, Jared and Jeff stayed up the road. We were exhausted, as was the front of the field that had chased us down. David Lippold of Zealous Racing took advantage of this opportunity, and slipped up the road.
This race had a combined cat 1/2 and 3 field that had ultimately dwindled down from about 33 riders to 15. So, the Cat 1/2's were sprinting for 4th, and the Cat 3's were sprinting for second which can be seen below:
I still had a good finish, crossing the line 5th out of those involved in the field sprint. Paul Deninger was the first Cat 1/2, and Brendan Kealey was the first Cat 3.
Senior Pro/1/2 - Squaw Creek
1 Jared Osterloh DES MOINES IA Zealous Racing
2 Duane Dickey COKATO MN Mercy-Specialized
3 David Lippold WEST DES MOINES IA Zealous Racing
4 Paul Deninger IOWA CITY IA Unattached
5 Jeff Bradley DAVENPORT IA Velosport Racing IA
6 Christopher Eastburn CEDAR RAPIDS IA Mercy-Specialized
7 Bryan Moritz DAVENPORT IA Bikes To You / World of Bikes
8 Chad Bishop MUSCATINE IA Harper's Cycling & Fitness
9 Michael Sencenbaugh TUCSON AZ University of Arizona
10 Brian West CEDAR FALLS IA Colorbiotics
11 Jerome Rewerts NEVADA IA Zealous Racing
12 Carson Christen CEDAR RAPIDS IA Mercy-Specialized
13 Lane Anderson ALTOONA IA Zealous Racing
14 Gregory Harper MUSCATINE IA Melon City Bike Club Inc.
15 Ryan French DES MOINES IA Zealous Racing
16 Finn Kolsrud IOWA CITY IA Colavita Racing
17 Lee Venteicher WAUKON IA Bikes To You / World of Bikes
dnf Kurt Hantelmann ALTOONA IA Zealous Racing
dnf Jonathan Nelson SIOUX CITY IA POWERADE - INDEPENDENT FABRICATION
dnf Derek Cassaday AMES IA Bikes To You / World of Bikes
dnf William Greenwood IOWA CITY IA Bikes To You / World of Bikes
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