May 30, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – The day started off a little wet but the rain held off for the main event and we got to race in nice dry conditions with only a few puddles to avoid. The T.O. Crit is one of my favourites so I was looking forward to a great race. The M1s were mixed in with the Pro 1-2 peloton so there seemed to be a half decent field of racers. Our Jet Fuel Coffee/ La Bicicletta squad was ready to compete right from the gun and the boys were on the front being active and starting things.

I thought a break would win this race for sure and it was very important for me to be in it so I was aggressive right away. I tired a few attacks and then boom I get away with Mattias Schmidt (Dark Horse Flyers) and Kyle Fry (Garneau). This move wasn’t going anywhere because Mattias was being cautious and Kyle was sitting on because he was riding for his teammate Jeff Schiller. With a little help from Mattias we kept this move away for a bit until a few others escaped off the front and joined us. Kevin Black (Darkhorse) my teammate Stephen Meyer (Jet Fuel Coffee/La Bicicletta) and of course Garneau’s Schiller bridged across. As soon as they rolled up Kyle decided it was time to pull through.

With all of us adding a teammate in the break I knew right away this was a lock to stay away. We got organized and rolled through a solid pace line getting more distance on the group every lap. Two riders from three different teams gave us six guys who all had a really good chance of pulling off the win. We played nice and caught the group in front and sat there for awhile just keeping them at 10-15 seconds before we decided to roll up and lap the field. Once we got into the group my teammates kept the pace high and rolled off the front. It was awesome to be in the Jet Fuel train lap after lap controlling things.

The guys rode great and I loved the show we were putting on for everyone. The group stayed all together and then they had the pack sprint at four to go. Well…that’s what we were told and what was up on the white board but it was actually the bell for the group at 4 to go. I did not know this until after the race. The group does their sprint for 7th and the 6 of us roll through together and get past the chaos of riders who just finished.

As we came through corner four there was an attack and Steve, Kyle and Kevin sprinted away to leave Jeff, Mattias and myself to stare each other down and play chicken. I have been here in this spot a few too many times this year. With three guys speeding away we come across the start finish line and I hear the bell for one to go. Last lap? Very confused and somewhat angry I know my chances of pulling off the win are very low. I thought we had two laps to go and now there is less than 1km left in the race. Schiller attacks into corner one and I go nuts trying to track him down. The entire race is in this back straight away as we both pour it on with half a lap to go.

I finally get on his wheel going into corner three and immediately try to go inside to beat him into the final straight away. The police motorcycle is right there in the way and I have to touch the brakes. As we head up the little incline before the final turn I punch it with everything I have to cut the corner and go inside on Jeff again. The window closes as I get inside him and we bump elbows and bodies almost hitting the barrier.

With the slow down I’m caught in a huge gear bogged right down and lose my chance at the “straight up” final sprint for the win against Schiller I was so craving. We both get up to speed but the race was won up the road and he holds me off for 4th and I grab 5th. I’m left to wonder about what could have been.

Kyle Fry took the win, Kevin Black was 2nd and Stevie “pointless flyer” Meyer gets our team on the podium with a solid 3rd place. It hasn’t been the dream start to the 2011 season for me or our team but I will tell you that things are coming together and I have never felt stronger on the bike. I was really happy to see Steve again in the move and watching him drink champagne and smiling did make me feel a bit better about how things went down.

We will get this figured out and I promise to have a “Veal Report” that describes a win very soon. This next weekend is all about the Ride All Day for the United Way. This is a charity ride that I have invested an incredible amount of time in and I really hope that a lot of you get to enjoy our efforts next Saturday. The website is www.rideallday.ca.

I will have a new report after the K-W classic. As defending K-W classic champ I will be looking to repeat in 2011.

Full results and more photos here.