June 4, 2004 – The Trenton race is a sketchy one with many turns, brick
roads, fast flat sections and a field of crazy motivated sprinters. Our
game plan going in was to take it as easy as possible in the early laps,
let the race unfold, and then lead Max (Van Heeswijk) out for the sprint
finish. We covered the early breakaways and then got set up for the final.
The course in Trenton is a dog-bone shaped circuit with two loops at either
end of an out and back stretch. The course goes through the downtown core
of Trenton and then through some pretty dodgy bits of town (where kids tend
to throw stuff at the peloton for fun), and then through a park where there
is a slight up hill.

The tactics are pretty straightforward at this race. Only once in the
race’s history has a breakaway stayed away until the finish. Max doesn’t
like to push and shove in a final, he is a sprinter that likes a long
uphill drag, where position isn’t as crucial and raw power wins the race,
so Trenton really isn’t an event for him. As we neared the final laps the
speed increased and the crashes increased as well putting us all a little
on edge. We attempted a last ditch effort to put the team on the front in
the final kilometers to get Max out of trouble but we were split up and
Max was poorly positioned. I ended up in the front with Antonio and we
tried to sprint in the final for a result. On the whole, our team was good
and well organized which bodes well for Sunday’s USPRO Championships.

For more about Barry, visit www.michaelbarry.ca