I headed to Spartanburg to race the Pro,1 criterium as part of the USA crit Speeweek series. When I arrived I managed to catch the end of both the Masters and the cat 2/3 race. Thomas Smith had managed to lap the field in the Masters race along with one other rider, and took a dominant 2nd place. Chris Emory made a great move in the final lap of the 2/3 race to move from about 30th place to a 6th place overall,l in one lap, how I don’t know, but I need to figure out his secret!!!
After the pro women, the sun began to set and the Pro men feild took the line for the start of 70 fun laps. I got to the line and had a mid pack start, not bad, not great!! The way speedweek had unfolded there was a battle being played out between United Healthcare, and Bahati Foundation, with Team Type 1 also in the mix with Mountain kahkis. This made the race hard and fast from the gun. The first few laps brought the inevitable screach of brakes and that crashing metal sound as the barriers came into play, once the field was strung out the race began in earnest. I felt good, legs were good, but given the dynamic of the race, moving up or around in the field was a challenge. United Healthcare and Bahati took turns in attacking and the others chasing, which pretty much meant the race was constantly an attack and counter attack and kept the speed consistently high, this was pretty much the story of the evening. After a few more crashes and few close calls for me, the field had thinned down to those that would finish the evenings race. I sat comfortably in mid pack until about the last 15 laps. As the pace picked up, no breaks had stuck and everyone started to organize for a fast finish, I decided to make one big move to try to get a little closer to the front to contest, I managed to get up there pretty well but as I did a big attack from Asheville local Jonny Clarke was made to disrupt the Bahati train, and I was engulfed while trying to recover. I tucked in for the final laps, stayed safe and finished with the main field, with United Healthcare taking the evening and spoiling the Bahati plans.
All in all a fun and fast evening, I enjoy these crits, they are blazing fast from the gun, and lend themselves to my style of riding, a lucky break or well timed move could have gotten me closer for the finale, but I was happy to feel good, ride well and represent. Good to see some of our local pros making an impact on the week, with Luca Damiani consistently placing all week. The guys at Globalbike also having a good presence. Feeling good for the Festival of Speed Keirin this weekend in Atlanata, hopefully some good results to come.
Thanks to all of our great sponsors for making it possible.
Andrew Erskine
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