I forgot my camera so unfortunately I didn't get any pictures this weekend. I carpooled down to the race with Eric and Amy, so there may not have been room for it anyway. My Subaru was overflowing with wheels, helmets, and bags of race gear and food. Amy did not race so she could get one more weekend of recovery on a sore knee. Eric was alone in the combined category 1/2/3 field. I was joined for the road race on Sunday by Ben and Keith Ladd. Keith Ladd also raced the time trial.
I was looking forward to this being an omnium weekend. The winner of the weekend would be determined by points awarded for placing rather than time. I have been placing consistently in the the top 5 or 6 so this could be my weekend to get a small trophy for the overall.
The criterium course was again on a development that has not had any houses built yet. This meant great road surfaces, but no shade. It was really hot with the sun beating down on the pavement, sand and weeds. The course had 4 major corners and a small hill with some slight bends. It was prime for a break away group. This is exactly what happened. The attacks came right from the start and I saw a group of strong riders develop off the front. I jumped across the gap and the four of us rode together for 3/4 of the forty minute race. I was hurting in the heat and was gaped off by two of the riders. They went it alone to take the first two places on the podium. My other break away companion and I were swallowed up by the pack with about 6 laps to go. This gave me a chance to sit in a recover a bit for the sprint. I positioned myself in a good place a few back from the front and waited for the last corner onto the finishing stretch. I made my move early hoping to get the jump on the group, but they were watching for this and I was caught by two others at the line for a 5th place finish. Eric finished in 3rd of the category 3s.
The time trial course was 6 miles on some nice Florida rolling hills. Nothing really big, but hilly especially for Florida. The hills were spread out enough to not allow you to carry much speed from the descents to the next climb. I managed to catch my 30 second man just after the turn around and another racer about a mile later. I came in with a time of 18:32 which got me on the podium in 3rd place. This also put me in 2nd place overall for the weekend. Eric place 4th in the category 3s and Keith Ladd posted the 6th best time for the category 4s.
The road race also had some nice hills in it and it was definitely going to be important to stay attentive at the front of the race to make sure a break didn't go without one of out team in it. Ben did a great job the first couple of laps keeping everything under control at the front. My legs were hurting after the efforts yesterday and I did not feel good until the last couple of laps of the 4 mile course. A solo rider went off the front early and stayed away until two laps to go. There were a couple of hard attacks on the last lap and I covered one of them about a mile from the finish. Keith Ladd came up next to me and offered a lead out for the sprint. I took his wheel and he put the petal down. Unfortunately he ran out of gas at the bottom of the last hill a bit too far out to sprint and I was sitting at the front of the race with the main contenders on my wheel. I did my best to shed them, but did not and they swarmed me at the finish. I came across in 6th place within less than a second of the winner. The worst part was I lost my overall podium position tied in 3rd place. I was ruled 4th because my competitor finished ahead of me on the last stage. Keith Ladd finished just off the lead group in 14th and Ben came in next a couple minutes behind in 15th. Eric had a great race bringing across to a breakaway group of mostly category 1/2 riders so he easily took 1st for the category 3 race and had a great 5th place overall finish in a strong field.
This was a great weekend of racing on some of the best courses so far this year. My new bike was flawless. It handled racing just as I expected it to. Thank again to Spooky Bikes and Bikes and More.
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