Welcome back to racing here in Florida, we are going full bore. As we went into the third week of racing, I got a nice midweek surprise to see that I was second place overall in the state rankings(Results Here). Going into what I felt to be the hardest road race course in the state and one of the more technical crits, I had a lot of motivation to do well.
San Antonio Road Race:
As we started Saturday with a full field of 108 riders, we were set to do 4 laps of a 17 mile hilly circuit. I was glad to have Chris Keane out there. During the first lap it was mostly single file and I was wondering if it was going to be a long day! Lap 2 continued with the pace and Chris and I found ourselves apart of a massive 30 man split. The group started out well, but then as usual some teams took inventory of who was at the party and the speed dropped. Things all came back together and at the start of the third lap on the first hill, I hit it as hard as I could and was off the front. Next thing I know, there is a break group of 7 riders rolling turns with a two minute gap. I was fine with doing my share of the work, when suddenly Frank Traveiso, Dave Guttenplan and one of Frank’s teammates bridged the gap.
At this point, Frank’s team (Herbalife/Racer’s Edge) had 3 riders in the break and my time in the wind was completely eliminated. The attacks started on the last lap, and I decided to make a move with 6 miles to go with two other guys, unfortunately it was short lived as we got caught two miles later. Coming into the last stretch we began to surge as the attacks started. Coming into the finishing straight I was able to tap down third with a late surge.
Dade City Criterium:
Sunday’s course is always an interesting one, a short 6 corner technical crit with brick roads. With 70 starters it was looking like it could be a single file adventure! The race started and I made sure I was at the front and attacked on lap 2, getting a small break going with Yosvanny Falcon and Pro Mountain biker Earl Bradley. We were maintaining a 20 second gap and about 25 minutes in it started to lightly rain. Suddenly upon entering corner five I lipped the edge of a sewer manhole and found my way onto the pavement at 30 mph. I popped up and realized my shifter was broken and was binding up the front brake. Upon getting to the pits, I disconnected the front brake and saw that as I crashed, Chris Keane had made his was to the front and closed down the break remnants. I got back in the race and as it got more wet I slid out again, went to the pits for spare wheels and got back in.
Chris realized that things were getting a little to hectic and came out of the race. I sat in the group suffering. Another break had started and was gaining time on the field and I was content with a field finish. With 20 laps to go, Z-motion decided they were going to make it interesting at bring it back together, the gap went from 45 seconds to 20 seconds in 10 laps. The break was in sight and somehow I felt better. With 6 laps to go, I jumped across to the break and then caught my breath, and attacked with 3 laps to go. This drew out the big sprinters Frank Traveiso and Yosvanny Falcon and we rolled until the finish. Taking third I was happy to be on the podium especially after hitting the deck
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