The Colavita Domination

Two weekends ago (yes, I'm a little behind), my team scored our first win of the season at the Boulder Larimer Road Race, with Ryan Cole taking the sprint in the lead group of 15 or so.
The race was a strange one for me. The preceding couple days, I had been feeling a little flat, and on race day, while I normally do pretty well in windy situations, I just didn't have the energy to battle for position at the front. I ended up getting dropped four times during the race, but for whatever reason, I was able to catch back on with the main group the first three times. In the mean time, Steve, Hamilton, Cole, and Mark were doing well up front. It was a great feeling having teammates up the road, because I was not obligated to work as hard to chase.
Halfway through the fourth lap, Steve had a mishap with a broken spoke, and in a great show of teamwork, Mark stopped and gave Steve his wheel. Impressively, Steve rode back up to me (in a chase group), and then soloed back up to the main group, once again allowing me to sit in a bit. From what I am told, Hamilton and Steve pushed the pace to the finish, laying the groundwork for Cole to light his rocket boosters and sprint for the win.
A little ways back, I felt like I was racing for 50th place, and aparently, so did some other guys in my group. They started congratulating each other on a good ride, and talked about crossing the line together. Not everyone shared this sentiment, and after giving the group fair warning that I was still racing, I attacked. My engine sputtered a few meters from the line, and I got passed by one guy who decided to follow me. Turns out I placed 21st, which I was very pleased with considering the way I was feeling, and that there were 92 guys in the race. As soon as one of my teammates told me we had won, I couldn't keep a smile off my face.

This past Sunday was the Boulder Beer Road Race. I didn't attend, but from what my teammates told me, it was another windy race. Steve and Hamilton once again showed the peloton the meaning of pain (and teamwork), and while a lone rider snuck off the front for the win, Cole was in position to once again win the group sprint. Two podiums in two weeks--pretty stellar.

My preparation for the Tour of the Gila (which starts in 8.5 days) is going in full swing. Today will be the last day of a pretty tough block of training, and the next week will be spent resting and getting a little time on my time trial setup. This race is one of my favorites, and the anticipation is killing me.