Ft Story Circuit Race
Ft Story VA
Saturday 7/10
Tough circuit, tough hill, tough field, tough weather (i.e. super hot), tough luck – flat with 5 to go. Reed managed 11th which was excellent given the conditions.
Contes Crit
Norfolk VA
Sunday 7/11
14th
It was another hot day. This is a good course, technical with a 180 hairpin as turn 1, cobbles around a part of a traffic circle in another part of the course and a long, long flat straight to the line. Snow Valley was out in force and the field was full of strong racers (UPMC, Subway D3 Pro, Fuji, Deoro (NC), Aerospace Engineering (Florida) etc, came out because of the big purse). We had Reed, Mark, Pedro, Adam S, Brent and myself. The plan was for Reed and Brent to sit in for the sprint, and for the rest of us to work to cover moves and keep Reed and Brent fresh. A lot of people tried to get away but after several laps of small breaks dangling but never getting more than 10 seconds, it became evident that nothing was going to stick. Pedro worked especially hard to keep some dangerous riders from getting away. With about 6 laps to go, there was a break of 5 or 6 guys, but Snow Valley was not there so you knew it was coming back, too. Then with 2 to go, we all started to position ourselves for the end. Reed and I were coming up the right side of the strung out pack after the death defying 180, trying to catch on the Snow Valley lead-out train (6 racers in a row – textbook) but we chose the wrong side, and the Snow Valley guys were peeling off in front of us. We managed to get around that and move up some places through the cobblestone area. We made the final turn, and then “down the stretch” they came. Snow Valley’s train was unstoppable and Cam Holland (local to the Norfolk are) won at home, I rolled in for 14th and Reed in 18th. Not too awful considering the heat (from the sun and in the race) and that I lost my only bottle with 16 laps still to go.
Snow Valley won the race but we beat them out for publicity as Jen, Lisa & Kelly were interviewed by the local paper and their comments and pro-Evo stuff was the majority of the article.
Tysons Corner
Sunday 7/18
8th
This was another new course for me. We lined up with Drew, Will, Adam S, and Nima in the 1/2/3 race. The course has a hill up to (and past) the finish line (it is a LONG straight to the finish) and then is downhill the rest of the way. Not too technical, though avoiding the crashes provided a few laps with some extra handling skills required. It is always interesting when you hear the unmistakable noise of a crash and then everything goes to slow motion –like the bicycle and dude you saw arcing across half the field reminding you of that pretty rainbow you saw earlier in the day. Quick check to the right for vehicular traffic, go outside the cones and miss the carnage (amazingly no broken bodies, just cuts). Bike Doctor was off the front early with a solo rider and jumped out to an early lead. That grew to 1 minute or so, before the field got interested in chasing. As you read in Drew’s report, some notable riders were trying to keep it altogether for their designated sprinters. We did about 30 laps total and I was trying to make sure I was in the front end of any splits in the field (every other lap up the climb a few more gaps would open up if you were too far back). A different Bike Doctor guy jumped with a few laps to go and dangled out in front of us. No one went with him, and I was not up to the bridge. With 3 to go I decided to see what was left in me. I moved up and then with 1 to go I was in the first few guys. One more Bike Doctor bridged across alone as we hit the bell lap – chapeau. They finished 1-2 by only a few seconds over the field. I saw a lot of people start to go early, but knew that the straight was long so I held back until about 300m to the line. Then I let the legs go and sprinted with all I had left … watched Nima roll in for 4th (2nd in the field sprint) and my waiting paid off as I passed the guys who started the sprint too early, and I finished in 8th overall.