Long Beach Crit "So my gut says to Attack"

So this is one of the races I do well in. I've take top 10, 3 times in the last 3 years. So I was pretty excited to do this race. There was a good size field 70 to 80 riders. The 1st 4 or 5 laps I stayed in the very front. But nothing went immediately. So I sat securely at the back for the 1st 20min that is usually when the next opportunity to get away is. So at 20min I moved back up pretty easily and stayed in the top 20 riders and watched for the move. There was a really good headwind on the back stretch and every thing that started to form at the front and looked good was pulled back quickly so with 16 min to go it was going to be a field sprint. This is something I have not worked on much this year so I wasn't quite sure what my plan was. So I sat near the back trying to decide what I was going to do. Then the lap count down started and right at 2 to go I saw my train heading for the front so I latched on and within 30 seconds and 2 corners I was 10th, then a surge came which I judged correctly and I was 5th. So the set up is looking perfect but riders 1 and 2 are running out of steam and were crossing the start/finish line with 1 to go. So my gut says Attack, but I hesitated and did not commit and the next surge comes from both sides and the 2 guys in front of me sit up. So I can't go with the surge cause I am boxed in and the in 30 seconds and 2 corners I'm 70th. So I went up the outside hard and got boxed in at about 50th and then into the last corner I passed 20 25 guys. So I ended up somewhere between 25th and 30th.... Next time listen to your gut!


J