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June 24, 2008
Summit / Hollywood Crit Take 1
Tonight was the first Summit / Hollywood Crit. I have not done this race before and was looking forward to it, especially since it was a closed course. I was not feeling great today as I think I am coming down with a bit of a cold (my family is sick too!), but I was pounding fluids all day. I decided to race both the Masters 3/4/5 and the Open 3/4/5 races, I figured if I did not feel well I might as well suffer some more. No seriously, Rosemount is a far drive for me and I wanted to maximize the opportunities.
The first race was the Masters 3/4/5 race, we had 28 in the field. There was a big group from Silver and GS. From the whistle things were pretty fast. The back side of the course was pretty technical and the field struggled to get through the corners efficiently the first few times. Around the 2 lap or so a small group had gotten off the front and no was chasing. They were only a few hundred meters out in front of the group so I punched it to bridge up to them. Andy, Ben, and another GS guy came along with me and there were now 6 of us off the front.
We had 2 Loons, 2 Silver, and 2 GS guys in the break and we worked well together for a few laps. When the prime lap came around Andy, a Silver guy and a GS guy went for it. After the prime the Silver and GS guy were off the front and Andy drifted back to us. So now it was 2 Loons, a GS, and a Silver chasing the 1st break and the group chasing us. The GS guy in our group did a great job disturbing the chase effort. He never worked and constantly was on second wheel. Ben, Andy and I worked well together despite the GS disturbance. As we got close and closer to the lead two, our GS tag along jumped hard to try and bridge up. Andy yelled go and I dug hard to catch his wheel. He sat up just short and I continued the chase until we caught the lead group. We had expected our GS guy to counter attack but all of the sudden we sat up. It was a good thing in a way as I was way off the rivet and totally cross eyed. We slowly got caught on the final lap. As we neared the small hill on the back side a GS guy jumped again. I grabbed his wheel and we had a small gap. He pulled aside and stopped working so I eased up, but I found myself in the lead which is never good going into a group sprint.
I did get to go through the most technical corners on the front and picked my own lines. As we neared the final corner I was spinning an easy gear waiting for someone to jump. Again, the two GS guys that were in the break jumped. I was able to grab their wheels and was sitting third going into the final turn. As we came through the turn, the two GS guys swung a bit wide and I was able to come in through the inside for the win!
This was my first win ever as a racer and I am damn excited. I have to thank my team and especially Andy for helping out tonight.
The Open 3/4/5 race was right after the Masters race. I knew I could not really contest the race, but I could at least ride for Alex. In the second lap again a break started to form so I moved to the front of the group and disrupted the chase. I then played that role for the rest of the race. The break stayed away and Alex was able to contest the sprint so I felt good about that.
All in all, it was a great night of racing!
Posted by kermisch at June 24, 2008 10:25 PM