Today was the first road race of the season for me. Mostly hoping to keep it upright and finish with the pack. We had a good showing of 352 Racing in the Cat 3s with Dito, Andrea, Superrookie and me. Dito was feeling strong so our plan was to work for him and try to get him on the podium.
I rode to the race from home which provided a great warm up. I was feeling a bit nervous, but ready to race. The course was at Gainesville Raceway on their "road course." It was fairly technical with some "S" turns and a 180 degree turn. It was dead flat and other than the 180 degree corner I didn't think there would be any break aways.
The pace started slow so I went to the front and picked it up. Came into the 180 degree corner and clipped my pedal as I was coming out. My wheel skipped but I managed to keep it upright. Unfortunately I had unseated my tire and it blew a few seconds later. Off to the pit for a new wheel and a free lap.
I got back in the race and was policing the front and trying to keep Dito from doing any work. About half way through the race I clipped my pedal again in the same corner. This time going down. After picking myself up I rode to the pit and jumped back in again. Took it easy for the rest of the race and managed to keep it rubber side down. There was another crash in the 180 degree corner on the last lap, and I was gaped slightly just as I was planning to move up and lead out Dito. He and Andrea finished top 10, I was at the back of the pack and Superrookie was gaped after my crash and never made it back to the group, but finished on the same lap.
Glad to have the first race out of my system. Only cosmetic damage to my bike and I just ended up with a little road rash.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Wait I still have a blog?
I know it has been a long time but better late than never. I figure a weekend of racing is a good way to get back into the swing of things.
The races were South of Gainesville as usual. Saturday was a nice little crit in New Port Ritchey. I got a good warm up and raced hard. Got away solo early for 2 or 3 laps before they closed me down. Figured I should sit in for a bit and see what developed. A couple other breakaway attempts, but nothing stuck. About 30 minutes in to the 45 minute time I rolled off the front with another guy who was riding hard and I know from past races likes to mix things up. We did not get far as the field saw the danger and shut us down. I was pretty cooked and drifted to the back of the back which had thinned quite a bit. The lap cards came out with 5 to go and I did not have much left in the tank. Tried to move up a couple times but only managed a few places. Finished the race with the main group somewhere in the top 20.
I was expecting Sunday to be a hard race and it did not disappoint. There were rumors when we first moved here that Florida had no hills. Today's race disproved that hypothesis. To make matters worse this was a combined Pro 1/2/3 race. We were averaging 26mph over the hills and into the wind. On the 3rd lap my legs had enough and I was off the back with a few other guys on one of the longer hills. We tried to chase back on, but did not make it back. My legs were cooked and I slowed way down to recover. After a few minutes I was feeling better and started to work on chasing down the others that were getting dropped from the main field. Picked off 4 or 5 before riding the final lap with JT a rider from EMBE Associates.
Not the results I was looking for, but my form is retuning to were it was this spring. I should be ready to kill the State Championships and the cross season.
The races were South of Gainesville as usual. Saturday was a nice little crit in New Port Ritchey. I got a good warm up and raced hard. Got away solo early for 2 or 3 laps before they closed me down. Figured I should sit in for a bit and see what developed. A couple other breakaway attempts, but nothing stuck. About 30 minutes in to the 45 minute time I rolled off the front with another guy who was riding hard and I know from past races likes to mix things up. We did not get far as the field saw the danger and shut us down. I was pretty cooked and drifted to the back of the back which had thinned quite a bit. The lap cards came out with 5 to go and I did not have much left in the tank. Tried to move up a couple times but only managed a few places. Finished the race with the main group somewhere in the top 20.
I was expecting Sunday to be a hard race and it did not disappoint. There were rumors when we first moved here that Florida had no hills. Today's race disproved that hypothesis. To make matters worse this was a combined Pro 1/2/3 race. We were averaging 26mph over the hills and into the wind. On the 3rd lap my legs had enough and I was off the back with a few other guys on one of the longer hills. We tried to chase back on, but did not make it back. My legs were cooked and I slowed way down to recover. After a few minutes I was feeling better and started to work on chasing down the others that were getting dropped from the main field. Picked off 4 or 5 before riding the final lap with JT a rider from EMBE Associates.
Not the results I was looking for, but my form is retuning to were it was this spring. I should be ready to kill the State Championships and the cross season.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
St Augustine Stage Race 9/12-9/13/09
I am a couple weeks late getting this written, but better late than never. I drove out to St. Augustine watching the looming clouds build. It was dry when I got to the course which was set up in a parking lot that was part of the St. Johns County office buildings. It was flat, but a little technical with a couple of chicanes and some tight corners. Unfortunately the rain did not hold off for the race. I was a bit tentative driving the corners with the rain for the first few minutes of the race and as to be expected there was a crash. I was caught behind the crash and had to chase back on to the main group. Thanks to Ken Sallot from Cycle Logic for closing the last bit of gap for us. We reintegrated and I quickly made my way to the front. No more getting caught out if I could help it. There was a break of two riders up the road and I started the work to try and close down the gap. Unfortunately we never made it. With 1 lap to go I took a hard pull hoping to set Eric up for the field sprint. As I pulled off Eric came by jumping just ahead of a couple lapped riders in the last corner to take the field sprint for 3rd.
The Time Trial was scheduled for 7:30 the next morning, so we headed off to dinner and then crashed at the hotel. The 5 AM came too quickly and we packed things up and headed out to the TT course. It was a short 4.5 mile flat course. It was still raining, so it was hard to get motivated to warm up. I took off and got up to speed. When I checked my computer I was a little worried as I was doing 31 mph. I knew this was too fast, so slowly dropped the speed and doing 27 coming into the turn. The way back was going to hurt after going out to fast and it did. I ended up finishing the TT in 10th place.
The road race was a combined Category 1,2,3 field and we were doing 64 miles on a flat loop. The first couple laps were pretty intense until a break formed. Things calmed down and I even tried to bridge up to the break at one point. I did not make it. The field settled in as they were happy with the break. Eric took 1st for the Cat 3s.
It was a good weekend for 352 racing with Amy, Eric, and David Monismith taking home trophies for their overall accomplishments.
The Time Trial was scheduled for 7:30 the next morning, so we headed off to dinner and then crashed at the hotel. The 5 AM came too quickly and we packed things up and headed out to the TT course. It was a short 4.5 mile flat course. It was still raining, so it was hard to get motivated to warm up. I took off and got up to speed. When I checked my computer I was a little worried as I was doing 31 mph. I knew this was too fast, so slowly dropped the speed and doing 27 coming into the turn. The way back was going to hurt after going out to fast and it did. I ended up finishing the TT in 10th place.
The road race was a combined Category 1,2,3 field and we were doing 64 miles on a flat loop. The first couple laps were pretty intense until a break formed. Things calmed down and I even tried to bridge up to the break at one point. I did not make it. The field settled in as they were happy with the break. Eric took 1st for the Cat 3s.
It was a good weekend for 352 racing with Amy, Eric, and David Monismith taking home trophies for their overall accomplishments.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tour de Tow 9/5-9/6/09
After a crazy morning taking Sadie to the doggy hotel, and packing up the car I finally made it to Keith Ladd's place an hour latter than planned. It all worked out and we were off to Bartow to do battle in two crit races. Keith was the loan cat 4 racer from 352, Eric and I were going to represent in the Cat 3 races. Amy took part in the women's races and Marco came down on Sunday for the cat 5 race.
The cat 3 race started that evening at 7:45. It was pretty dark and we got some rain just before the race so the pavement was a bit wet. This was going to be interesting. The official blew the whistle and we were off. The race was pretty mild with very few attacks and with a tail wind and slight down hill on the back side of the course it was easy to close down any break away attempts. It looked like this was going to come down to a field sprint. It was my job to pull Eric into position to try and take the win. As we came around corner 3 with 2 laps to go I took a bad line on the outside and found myself headed straight for the curb. I bunny hopped the curb onto the grass I thought I was going to make it and get back in the pack. Unfortunately the edge of the sidewalk had other plans. My front wheel got caught and I went head over heals. I came out of the crash with a little road rash and blew the suspension system in my helmet. My bike was fine, so I jumped back on and finished the race. Eric sprinted for a 5th place finish.
Amy had a great weekend of racing finishing 3rd on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday. Keith Ladd had 2 top 15 finishes even with my mistake in communication on Saturday. Marco overcooked a corner at the end of his race and finished in 11th.
Keith Ladd's race was in the mid afternoon during the heat of the day. He was feeling pretty good and wanted to try for a break away win with 3-4 laps to go. 
It was my job to call out the time gap and let him know when to go. With 7 minutes plus 5 laps to go the announcer said there was 7 laps to go and I started counting down. I did not hear her correct herself and say there were 7 minutes plus laps. With what I thought was 3 laps to go I yelled at Ladd and he made the move. He got a gap and held the field off for 2 laps when the official brought out the lap cards and said 5 laps to go. He looked at me and all I could do was hang my head and apologize. He took it well and finished the race mid pack having used up his legs in what he thought was going to be the winning move.
It was my job to call out the time gap and let him know when to go. With 7 minutes plus 5 laps to go the announcer said there was 7 laps to go and I started counting down. I did not hear her correct herself and say there were 7 minutes plus laps. With what I thought was 3 laps to go I yelled at Ladd and he made the move. He got a gap and held the field off for 2 laps when the official brought out the lap cards and said 5 laps to go. He looked at me and all I could do was hang my head and apologize. He took it well and finished the race mid pack having used up his legs in what he thought was going to be the winning move. 
The cat 3 race started that evening at 7:45. It was pretty dark and we got some rain just before the race so the pavement was a bit wet. This was going to be interesting. The official blew the whistle and we were off. The race was pretty mild with very few attacks and with a tail wind and slight down hill on the back side of the course it was easy to close down any break away attempts. It looked like this was going to come down to a field sprint. It was my job to pull Eric into position to try and take the win. As we came around corner 3 with 2 laps to go I took a bad line on the outside and found myself headed straight for the curb. I bunny hopped the curb onto the grass I thought I was going to make it and get back in the pack. Unfortunately the edge of the sidewalk had other plans. My front wheel got caught and I went head over heals. I came out of the crash with a little road rash and blew the suspension system in my helmet. My bike was fine, so I jumped back on and finished the race. Eric sprinted for a 5th place finish. I was a bit stiff when I woke up the next morning, but nothing a nice long warm up wouldn't cure. Eric and I rode around discussing our tactics for the day. This was a different course with 8 corners, prime for a break away. Our plan was to try and blow the race apart and at least get one of us in the break.
It took me a few laps to get comfortable in the corners after my crash the day before, but once I was comfortable I was able to move up and watch for moves going off the front. There was a break away of 2 riders up the road and Eric attacked bridging up to them. Our main competition and the winner of last nights race, Ken Vida, was at the front trying to chase down Eric. I was on his wheel and as he pulled of another racer jumped. I grabbed his wheel and he pulled me up to the break. After the effort to pull Eric back Ken did not make the move and Eric and I were both in the break. We pushed the pace hard and opened the gap on the field. The announcer let us know we had 2 laps to go and I knew we could pull off the win. I took a long hard pull up the finishing straight. Eric took over down the back side of the course. Our break away companions were hurting and could not put out as much effort as we could. Coming into the bell lap I was on the front giving it everything. Eric was on the back recovering and waiting for the right moment to attack. It came as we rounded corner 5. He shot up the inside and cut in front of me to knock anyone off his wheel. I slowed up a bit and he quickly put a 30 meter gap on us. I think we both knew he had the win at this point. As our break away companions tried to chase him down I just followed wheels. Eric got the win, unfortunately I did not have the legs left for the final sprint and finished just off the podium in 4th. We were both really happy with the results and the tactics.
Amy had a great weekend of racing finishing 3rd on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday. Keith Ladd had 2 top 15 finishes even with my mistake in communication on Saturday. Marco overcooked a corner at the end of his race and finished in 11th. Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Video of Nocatee Road Race Win
Here's the video of my win and Eric's 3rd place finish at Nocatee. Thanks Kerry Duggan for taking this and getting me a copy.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Nocatee Stage Race 8/22-8/23/09
This was my first race as a category 3. I was a bit nervous about the race and didn't sleep all that well on Friday night. It was a fairly early departure from Gainesville to make it over to Ponte Vedra for our race at 9:35. It was still overcast which was nice as it kept the temperature down for the race.
My teammate Eric and I talked about attempting to break away part way through the race and hopefully put some time on Ken Vida who is an excellent time trialer. We tried a couple of times but were chased down by the peleton quickly. Eric is a marked man with his long list of podium finishes this year. With two laps to go Eric closed down the gap to a small break away and attacked. Vida followed but did not pull through to continue the attack. I was moving up to hopefully break up any attempt to chase them down if the did get away and when Vida sat up I blew past them and quickly put a descent gap on the field. I was mostly expecting this to turn out to be a spring board for Eric to counter attack when the peleton caught me. There was still 12 or 13 miles left in the race and I did not expect to stay away to the finish. As I came through the finish area for the bell lap and still had a good gap I started to think I could do it. I just kept my head down and put everything I had left into the effort. When I turned off the highway onto the road with a nice tailwind I knew I had it. I had about 30 seconds on the field which gave me time to enjoy the finish. I could hardly believe I won my first cat 3 road race. A huge thank to Eric for his efforts breaking up the chase. I could not have done it without him. He also managed to take second place in the field sprint for a 3rd place finish.
The time trial was scheduled to start at 5PM so I settled in and watched the racing for the afternoon. The clouds started to build and by 2:30 we could see the thunderstorm headed our way. It hit with lightning and heavy rain just before the start of the cat 4 race. They postponed this race which my teammate David was racing in until the storm passed which was almost 4:00. It was still raining, but the lightning was over. At about 4:30 they decided to postpone the time trial to the next morning starting at 7:30. I headed back to Gainesville knowing it was going to be a really early wake up call the next morning.
Up by 4:30 and on the road by 5:30 it was back to Ponte Vedra for the time trial and criterium. My start time was 8:32, but I car pooled with my friend Ryan who had an earlier start time. My legs were feeling a bit tired after the effort the day before, but I posted a descent time of 11:20 for the 6 mile course. I did loose almost a minute to Ken Vida finishing in 7th place. Eric finished 20 seconds down on Vida in 2nd place. We had our work cut out for us if we were going to beat him in the overall.
Our crit started at 2:05 in the afternoon. After the clouds burned off it was hot. The course was fairly technical with 8 corners. It was dead flat, but all the corners made a breakaway a likely scenario. We didn't think Vida would let us get away in a break without him, so our plan was to lure him into a break with both of us and then take turns attacking him in the last 4 or 5 laps of the race. This did not work for us. He attacked from the gun and quickly put 20 seconds on the field. There were a lot of people chasing, so the pace was really high for the first 15 minutes. Eric was surfing the front 5 places, but I was hurting and could not find the groove for the first little bit. I got my legs under me and started to move up. I got to the front and took a hard pull to bring down the gap to Vida. There were a couple other teams working hard to do the same, but we only got it down to around 15 seconds. Eric made the effort and bridged up to Vida solo. Shortly after a couple other small group went across the gap and the breakaway swelled to 6 or 7. It stayed away and Vida won with Eric taking 2nd right on his wheel. Unfortunately due to this break I lost my podium place in the overall finishing the weekend in 5th.
Other team results from the weekend:
Amy took 4th in the Cat 4 women's road race, 2nd in the time trial and 2nd in the criterium. This put her in 1st place for the overall Cat 4 women. David had consistent finishes in all 3 races even braving the rain and lightning for the Cat 4 road race. Marco came over for the Cat 5 crit on Sunday and took home 7th place. Ryan who I rode with on Sunday, but is not on our team, took 1st in the Masters 35+ time trial winning by less than a 1/4 of a second.
One of the other Gainesville racers got my win on video. I will post it as soon as I get a copy from him.
My teammate Eric and I talked about attempting to break away part way through the race and hopefully put some time on Ken Vida who is an excellent time trialer. We tried a couple of times but were chased down by the peleton quickly. Eric is a marked man with his long list of podium finishes this year. With two laps to go Eric closed down the gap to a small break away and attacked. Vida followed but did not pull through to continue the attack. I was moving up to hopefully break up any attempt to chase them down if the did get away and when Vida sat up I blew past them and quickly put a descent gap on the field. I was mostly expecting this to turn out to be a spring board for Eric to counter attack when the peleton caught me. There was still 12 or 13 miles left in the race and I did not expect to stay away to the finish. As I came through the finish area for the bell lap and still had a good gap I started to think I could do it. I just kept my head down and put everything I had left into the effort. When I turned off the highway onto the road with a nice tailwind I knew I had it. I had about 30 seconds on the field which gave me time to enjoy the finish. I could hardly believe I won my first cat 3 road race. A huge thank to Eric for his efforts breaking up the chase. I could not have done it without him. He also managed to take second place in the field sprint for a 3rd place finish.
The time trial was scheduled to start at 5PM so I settled in and watched the racing for the afternoon. The clouds started to build and by 2:30 we could see the thunderstorm headed our way. It hit with lightning and heavy rain just before the start of the cat 4 race. They postponed this race which my teammate David was racing in until the storm passed which was almost 4:00. It was still raining, but the lightning was over. At about 4:30 they decided to postpone the time trial to the next morning starting at 7:30. I headed back to Gainesville knowing it was going to be a really early wake up call the next morning.
Up by 4:30 and on the road by 5:30 it was back to Ponte Vedra for the time trial and criterium. My start time was 8:32, but I car pooled with my friend Ryan who had an earlier start time. My legs were feeling a bit tired after the effort the day before, but I posted a descent time of 11:20 for the 6 mile course. I did loose almost a minute to Ken Vida finishing in 7th place. Eric finished 20 seconds down on Vida in 2nd place. We had our work cut out for us if we were going to beat him in the overall.
Our crit started at 2:05 in the afternoon. After the clouds burned off it was hot. The course was fairly technical with 8 corners. It was dead flat, but all the corners made a breakaway a likely scenario. We didn't think Vida would let us get away in a break without him, so our plan was to lure him into a break with both of us and then take turns attacking him in the last 4 or 5 laps of the race. This did not work for us. He attacked from the gun and quickly put 20 seconds on the field. There were a lot of people chasing, so the pace was really high for the first 15 minutes. Eric was surfing the front 5 places, but I was hurting and could not find the groove for the first little bit. I got my legs under me and started to move up. I got to the front and took a hard pull to bring down the gap to Vida. There were a couple other teams working hard to do the same, but we only got it down to around 15 seconds. Eric made the effort and bridged up to Vida solo. Shortly after a couple other small group went across the gap and the breakaway swelled to 6 or 7. It stayed away and Vida won with Eric taking 2nd right on his wheel. Unfortunately due to this break I lost my podium place in the overall finishing the weekend in 5th.
Other team results from the weekend:
Amy took 4th in the Cat 4 women's road race, 2nd in the time trial and 2nd in the criterium. This put her in 1st place for the overall Cat 4 women. David had consistent finishes in all 3 races even braving the rain and lightning for the Cat 4 road race. Marco came over for the Cat 5 crit on Sunday and took home 7th place. Ryan who I rode with on Sunday, but is not on our team, took 1st in the Masters 35+ time trial winning by less than a 1/4 of a second.
One of the other Gainesville racers got my win on video. I will post it as soon as I get a copy from him.
Monday, August 3, 2009
PAL Omnium 8/1-8/2/09
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.
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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