Spin City Race Weekend

This past weekend was the Spin City Crit and Circuit Race. I had a knee problem over the last month and had only been training consistently for two weeks before this race, so I had no clue how I would go. I thought the crit would be pretty easy. It has always been a fast race that comes down to a field sprint in the past. This course is about one k long and fast with 4 90 degree corners. The last turn is around 300 meters from the line. This year a break of about six riders went rather early. The break consisted of Bobby Sweeting, Ivan Franco (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork), Grant Potter (Potter's/Bike America), Phil Gaimon (Sakonnet), Rudy Robaina (Cycle Science), and John Durango. They were rolling it pretty hard. The gap dangled at between 15" to 30" throughout the race. Joel Chavez's Preferred Alliance team missed the move and tried a very disorganized chase for most of the race. In the last five laps they seemed to get everything together and all the break but Ivan Franco was reeled back in with two laps to go. Ivan was brought back on the last lap and the field was motoring. I entered the last lap in 4th position and thought I was sitting pretty for the win. I started my sprint about 200 meters out and couldn't come over anyone. I got passed by a few guys near the line and came in seventh. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't turn a gear I usually could, but I was happy that I could still position myself well. I guess the lack of finishing speed is from not racing for a while. It should come back soon.
Sunday was a 90 k circuit race on a 3.5 k course near the Orlando Airport. It is always windy out there and few people ever finish the race. The race was 25 laps this year making it around 90 k long. There were attacks from the gun but they always seemed to be brought back within a lap or two. About 8 laps in I thought it was getting tough, so I decided to initiate some moves myself. I put in a few good moves but got nowhere. After a few laps I started to pay the price of my injuries and lack of racing and blew up. I went from off the front in a group to off the back in less than a lap, so my race was over prematurely. In the last five laps or so a few moves got away for good. Joel Chavez came in solo for the win. Then there was a group of five. Ivan Franco was the best placed rider on our team coming in for seventh. It was a decent weekend for the team and I was happy just to resume racing again. This weekend there is a race in Perry, GA that I am doing. I am looking forward to it with another good week of training behind me.