Dothan Cityfest Criterium

The city of Dothan, Alabama put on a wonderful nighttime criterium last night. The course was about .7 miles long and had 4 ninety degree corners. From the start/finish straight the course was uphill until turn two. Then it went downhill into a fast and open turn three and slightly downhill into a slightly off-camber turn 4. Team Ion- United Healthcare fielded two riders at the race: Brian Hill and myself. We wanted to race hard, get into a breakaway, and try to win the race. The race was 40 laps in duration and the attacks started from the gun. Andy Crater was very aggressive. Brian and I made sure that either of us were in every split that happened. I was feeling good on this course. My Blue AC 1 and Industry Nine wheels were tracking amazingly through the fast turns. Many of the early splits were brought back by the many teams present and everyone was fresh. After about 15 laps I got up the road with Andy Crater, John Atkins, and Brian Toone. We managed to work very well together and quickly got a gap of 40 seconds on the field. During this time I was hydrating well with my Ion Competition energy drink and staying as fresh as possible. Brian Hill, my teammate, was doing an awesome job covering attacks in the field while I was off the front. As we were off the front for more and more time it became apparent that Andy and I were stronger than Brian and John. Andy rode hard up the hill but we could not shake Brian and John. With about 5 laps to go we lapped the field. At this point people in the break quit working and started to play around. No one wanted to be at the front. With half a lap to go I went fast into the downhill turn three and sprinted to turn 4. Andy Crater got by me before turn 4 and managed to take the win. I held on for second and John Atkins finished 3rd ahead of Brian Toone. In another split my teammate Brian Hill was beaten to the line by Emile Abraham, so Brian ended up 6th. Overall we had a good race and were happy about it. First I would like to thank God for giving me the fitness to race well and stay safe. I'd also like to thank my wife, my mom, and my sister for driving me to the race. I'd also like to thank the city of Dothan, Alabama for putting on a great race and my teammate Brian Hill for helping me out to my second place finish.

US 100k

The US 100k Classic is held every Labor Day morning in Atlanta, GA. The race does 11 laps over a 9k circuit and makes a turn off for the finish about a mile to go. It is a rolling course, but none of the hills are so big and it is held on highways. It usually favors a bunch sprint. For me it was my last opportunity this year to get a big result. A break went early in the race (only after a couple of miles) with 7 or 8 riders. The Ion United Healthcare Team had Spencer Gaddy in the move. Tiago Depaula (Depaula Racing), Oscar Clarke (Mountain Khakis), and a Hincapie rider were some of the other riders in the break. That break gained 3 or 4 minutes after a couple of laps and looked like it was going to stick for the race. Then George Hincapie (BMC), Craig Lewis (HTC-Columbia), and a Fly V rider went to the front and started to chase the break back. The gap did not really come down at all at the beginning. Eventually with 2.5 laps to go the break got brought back and there was a counter of about 15 guys. This move included my teammates Andy Baker and Bryan Hill. I was riding second wheel and a Litespeed BMW rider jumped and I got on his wheel. The group just let us ride off the front. The Litespeed guy got me halfway to the break and I jumped him and bridged the rest by myself. Shortly after I made contact Joey Rosskopf (Mountain Khakis) and Phil Gaimon (Kenda) attacked and I went with them. An Aerocat rider bridged to us and this made the winning move. Phil rode hard on one of the hills on the back side of the course and dropped the Aerocat rider, so I knew I would at least make the podium. I did not miss a turn on the front with Phil and Joey but did not work as hard as they did because I wanted to be able to respond to any attacks. We went into the final mile with over a minute gap. With about a kilometer to go Phil jumped and Joey was right on his wheel. I was a little slow to respond but was sitting last wheel in the downhill sprint. I made contact at about 300 meters to go but hesitated. At 200 meters to go I jumped but Joey had more of a jump and took the win. He really rode a perfect race. I took second and Phil third. Maybe I should have used the momentum I had at 300 meters to go but am not sure if I would have beaten Joey even if I did. He has a really good sprint and ran a really good race. I am very happy with my second place at this race. First of all I would like to thank God who helped me in my training and during the race. Secondly, I'd like to thank my wife Sara and coach Bob Tyler who believed in me all this time. I'd also like to thank Eric Murphy and the Ion-United Healthcare team for supporting me even though I was not performing well this season until recently. Also I would like to thank Spencer Gaddy for riding hard in the break all day long, so I did not have to do any work in the group.

Final Stage Joe Martin Stage Race

The final stage of the Joe Martin Stage race was a very, very tough criterium. It is the toughest most technical criterium I have ever seen. I has 12 turns, a false flat, followed by a 300 meter climb, then more false flat after the climb, and off camber turns with slippery-looking intersections, one coming after a 45 mph descent. The lap took about three minutes to complete and the men pro,1 race was supposed to be 90' in duration. I started the race in the middle of the group and it was flat out from the gun. On the first two laps there were 5-10 rider pile-ups in the second to last turn. That gapped me and the riders I was with off on both occasions and we had to chase hard on the hill. On the second or third lap on three occasions my handlebars were bumped hard three times by someone's butt fighting for around 100 or 120th place. By this point I was very anaerobic from the pace and my head was no longer in the game because of the crashes I saw and the getting bumped harder than a field sprint at the back of the field. I decided then to pull out, so I would not make the 18 hour drive home with either broken bones or road rash. My Ion- United Healthcare teammate Spencer Gaddy made it about 50-55 minutes into the race before his group was pulled but was not included in the final results. The rule was that you had to make it to the halfway point in the race in order to be included in the overall standings, so he should have been included. Now I am done with a long stint of racing and am healthy and safe. Hopefully with a week or two of rest my form will come along from the flogging I have taken from the last 3 weeks of racing with the big boys.