We started out under sunny skies, but that would soon change as showers rolled through the area as we raced toward Baker's Mountain. With gusty winds and long straightaways prior to the climb, no breakaway was going to survive for long & thus we rolled onto the climb groupo compacto.
The steep gradients did its job & the pack quickly fragmented & I found myself in the second group on the road about 30 seconds back from the leaders over the top of the climb. Over the next five miles our group was able to reintegrate with the leaders, forming a group of fourteen. Preston was unfortunately unable to regain contact with our group and waited on a small group to ride in with.
With 30 miles to go of mostly flat & gently rolling terrain, our group cooperated well and we rode hard to the finish. In the finale, I had nothing left for the sprint to the line and rolled over the line in 11th place. Preston came in 17th.
Charlie's race was eventful. All the junior age catagories were started at the same time in one big group (about 40 kids in total) leading to a big pile-up on Lap 3. Charlie managed to avoid the wreck, but was delayed by the crash. But true to form, Charlie persevered and sprinted back to nab 5th.
The afternoon uphill TT was cancelled due to thunderstorms, but some were able to finish. Charlie had a good ride passing four riders in 2.5 miles, even though it started pouring rain on him half way up. Travis Sherman (a fellow racer from B'ham) had the privilege of being the last allowed to start the TT. He got hailed on, rained on & had a wind gust blow him from the right shoulder of the road all the way into the left lane! All while climbing a steep hill! Ouchie. I like doing TT's , but I can't say I was disappointed about missing this one.
The crit served up more of the same wet weather and crashes galore. The juniors were held at the line for a full half hour in the rain before they began. When they did finally start, attacks came thick and fast - along with the inevitable crashes. Charlie managed to avoid 3 separate wrecks and over the last couple of laps opted to back things down a bit and finished upright in 5th place (a wise move in my opinion). The men's Cat. 3's followed a similar plot with plenty of hard attacks and wipeouts on the slick pavement. Preston stayed clear of trouble (although he did graze a hay bale at one point while avoiding a fallen rider!! He had the straw stuck to his shoe cover to prove it.) and sprinted home for 6th place.
All in all a good weekend of racing for the team and everyone kept their bodies & bikes intact. Nice racing fellas!
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