Monday, September 20, 2010

Tour de Tow



This past weekend I raced the Tour de Tow in Bartow, FL. The race consisted of two crits. Saturday night was a fast 4 turn crit and Sunday was a slower figure 8 course. I had Neal Shepherd as a teammate for both the races. It was his first weekend of racing pro 1,2 races, so he was pretty excited about these races. I felt very good on Saturday night and wanted to win. Since it was a fast course it was easy to move up or just sit in. It was very tough for a break to stick. At some points during the race it would get tough and I would attack and ride solo for 5 laps or so. At one point Jos Chalmers and I were off the front for about 10 or 15 laps. We were giving it our all but the field ended up bringing us back with about 10 minutes to go. Then another group looked promising with 5 laps to go but the field brought that one back as well. With 3 laps to go the bell was rung for a $100 prime. I attacked for that prime and ended up collecting it. I gave it my all in an effort to stay off the front for the end of the race. I was caught just before 1 lap to go. After I was caught the field past me. I was exhausted from my effort at the end and finished near the back of the race. I could have definitely gotten a better result if I sat in all day and waited for the sprint, but I had fun at this night race. Congratulations to Neal on finishing his first pro 1,2 race.

Sunday was a 60 minute race on a course shaped like a figure 8. I was a little less sharp on Sunday than I was on Saturday from all the attacks I did the night before. I told myself that I would be less aggressive than the night before. However, I told myself that if the race got dificult I would go in a break early in the race. After about 5 minutes of racing Derek Bennett went off the front. He had a gap of about 12'', so I attacked and bridged up to him. We quickly built up a gap of about 30''. We worked well together and the gap hovered around 30'' for most of the race. After about 45 or 50 minutes of racing the gap shot up to 50''. At this point it was obvious that our break would survive to the line. The sprint was long, uphill, and into a headwind, so I sat second wheel going into the last turn. Derek led out the sprint and I passed him with about 200 meters to go and held on for the win. It was very exciting to win a second race this year. Congratulations to Neal for finishing his second pro1,2 race. I would like to thank God for helping me to train well, stay healthy, and have the fitness to win races. I would like to thank my wife Sara for believing in me and giving me support. I would like to thank Coach Bob for believing in me and helping me to get proper training for my races. I would like to thank my parents for supporting me and driving me to races. I would also like to thank the Orlando Road Club for supporting me at races in Florida this year and also for the support I got from the club when I was younger.