Niagara Classic

Niagara Classic is a great course. This is the second year I have done the race and both times it has been amazing, sunny weather. This year the start/finish changed to make things more interesting. We started with a neutral start on Metler Road down to Effingham. The race starts at the bottom of Effingham hill to make sure you get warmed up right away. At the top you turn right (if you made it up) and go down hill. This section is fast for a few km then you turn another right to a flat section of the course. Go down half way then make a quick left-right and keep going. At the end of this you turn right again onto another flat section where the pace slows down as people prep their legs to start climbing again. At the end of this section there is a fast downhill to uphill. You can do this easily without touching your brakes but it seems many people do not feel comfortable with their descending skills. After this you take a fast right and your are off to the races uphill on Effingham once again. Its a false flat basically up to the real hill just because they do not want it to be easy for you. This makes for a 12km course. On the last lap we turned left at the base of the hill, back onto Metler. This was about 500m stretch around 3% grade to the finish. Made for a good sprint!
For our race I started mid pack, but somehow found myself slip towards the back. I knew from last year to try and conserve as much energy as I could because the hill takes its toll after the 4+ times going up. Over the first few laps I worked to move up to the front. A break had already formed but I didnt want to do work yet to catch it. On the third lap on top of Effingham I reached for my gel tube, dropped it and it was gone. Had no food for the race so I was kind of scared. Luckily I had some gatorade in one of my bottles, at least it was a source of carbs.
At the end of the fourth lap two guys broke off the front to try and bridge the gap the break. I made a half attempt to go with them then decided against it. Just dropped back into the peloton and conserved energy. Towards the end of the 5th lap I think, we caught the two riders so I was happy with my decision because I was where I would have been but with fresh legs. At this point I have no idea when we caught the break I just know it happened before the end of the race. After the last climb up Effingham I pushed to get about midpack. Going downhill I was behind someone who was heavy on their brakes and ended up back at the back. Held this spot until the valley before Effingham. Kept my speed up and made up a few spots. Once we turned onto Metler rd the left side of the road was open and I heard my step dad yell at me to giver hell. I opened up and made my way up to near the front. Overall I finished 5th and 3rd in Elite 3 group. I was pretty happy with the result and it was my first podium in Elite 3!
Things to work on: I kept finding myself fall backwards in the peloton. Need to hold my position better especially at the beginning and ends. (the middle of the race I am pretty good at I guess). I need to work on my positioning coming into the end. I feel like I have the power, just not in a good spot to take the win.
Notes: a 39-28 gear ratio is money for getting up Effingham. I wouldnt have it any other way.
Now I look forward to a week off then KW Classic!
Garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/315241685
Results: http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20130519-211827-ncresults.htm

Elite 3 Podium!
EDIT-- Looked at some photos uploaded, looks like that break wasnt completely caught. the 2 guys that won (junior and elite 3) were in the break and managed to stay a bit out front