Marc Pro - Strava

Merco Cycling Classic Downtown Grand Prix was a day I wasn't looking forward to. Construction in Merced forced the course to be changed and to have a hairpin corner. Everyone knew it was going to hurt. 50 laps were on order and 50 sprints out of the hairpin. Bissell Pro Cycling basically had call ups for their entire team to the starting line. So that allowed Bissell put all 9 of there guys on the front and control the race. It was challenging to get past the entire bissell team but a few riders including myself made attempts. Only to have bissell up their pace and pull everything back. The hairpin was tricky because you'd have to slam on your brakes, track stand around the corner and sprint down the finishing straight away. With bissell chopping wheels, elbowing and yelling at riders that were disrupting their train. After trying to stay near the front the whole race to stay out of trouble. It came down to the final laps to see who had the fitness. Frank Spiteri was pulling Justin Rossi to the line. I jumped in and followed Frank to the line with Justin close behind. Everyone finished safety on the team and Ricky Escuela of Full Circle Sports stole the W from Bissell.