Conn McDunphy (Team Skyline) is currently in America for a stint of racing, which will include Tour of the Gila (UCI 2.2), but on Sunday he got stuck into The Growler and took $15,000 in prize money after placing 2nd to Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz htSQD).
McDunphy was leading the race - some 222km with 4,300 metres of elevation gain - in a solo move before being swallowed up a three-man chasing group, with two of them working together to recapture the Irishman.
And though McDunphy had been on the attack for much of the race, when he was caught he still managed to take 2nd place - and the $15,000 prize - while Swenson went away with the $25,000 on offer for the winner.
"It was a block headwind with five miles to go," McDunphy said as be battled hard solo towards the finish in Sonoma County, California. "I asked the moto cop how far it was to go and he said 'five miles'. My heart sank because I was going as hard as I could and my cadence just kept getting lower and lower. And I was camping on my inner thighs."
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Behind him, Marcis Shelton (Team California p/b Verge), Matt Beers (Specialized Off-road) and Swenson were a group bearing down on the Irishman; Beers teaming up with Swenson and closing the gap to McDunphy.
In the sprint, Swenson attacked went with about 250m to go, and though McDunphy responded well, he messed up his approach to a final roundabout, sinking his chance of getting onto Swenson's wheel. Behind the winner and runner-up, Shelton was 3rd and Beers was 4th.
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"I didn't really know what to expect from the route, to be honest," said McDunphy. "So I just raced the way I like to race and just kinda sent it."
That "sending it" involved riding across to a large breakaway group early in the race, only for it to be caught. Later, McDunphy got away with Shelton and they built a lead of over three minutes. However, Shelton dropped the Irishman on the Geyser Summit climb deep into the race.
Though McDunphy got back to him, and then attacked him to surge far ahead on his own, he said after the race it would have been better had they stayed together up the climb.
"We got a gap for about three minutes. I was trying to tell him 'just don't drop me on a climb' because he's going so, so well," McDunphy said. "If he'd not dropped me on the climb, I think they would struggled to catch us. But it is what it is. And then, yeah, coming into the final, I caught him. I went over the top of him.
He said when he caught Shelton, he then attacked him as he wanted to try and win the race.
"I did think I'd be stronger on the flat given I'm good time trialist," McDunphy said. "In hindsight, maybe I should have waited to attack a little bit longer, because working together, we would have held off with you guys a bit longer.
"But for me to win, and I was racing to win… we're not racing to come second. So for me to win, I just need to come into the finish on my own more often than not."
