Putting the finishing touches on Speed Week, the team recently
lined up at the Spartanburg Regional Classic and the Electric City Circuit. The
Spartanburg Regional Classic is a tight criterium race held in downtown
Spartanburg, SC. The course is an excellent one for our team, and we hoped to
lead team sprinter Evan Wynn to the win – two places better than his third place
finish from the 2011 edition. Being its first year running, the Electric City
Circuit surprised us all with its total lack of shelter from an unseasonably
blazing hot spring day.
Friday night’s race was fast from the gun, largely due to our early
aggression. The plan was to have Evan sit in near the front and await the
predictable field sprint, with Matt and Dylan covering all of the early attacks.
Dylan valiantly controlled the race for the first few minutes, while Matt made
his way to the front after being caught behind a near crash out of the gates.
Unfortunately Evan was involved in a bad crash shortly after Matt arrived at the
front. They both maintained control for the remainder of the race but had to
settle for finishing a modest 15th place.
Saturday’s event offered a totally new venue. Ricky replaced our
crashed compadre, and Matt Goddard also joined us for an hour of fun in the sun.
Anderson’s mid-day race presented shade-free, shockingly hot conditions, which
took an immediate toll on the field. Our plan was to race aggressively, cover
all attacks, and drive any significant breakaways. We did exactly that, but the
95° temperature decimated the field and left the remaining twenty (of about
sixty that started) of us delirious and exhausted. We were aggressive into the
last lap, but unfortunately we lacked the gas, guts and gusto to participate in
a dodgy mass sprint and had to settle for another less satisfying field finish
for 13th. After multiple wins in the past 2 weeks, we look forward to
redeeming ourselves over the next couple of weeks!
***As always, we thank our good friends at
Earth
Fare, Industry Nine, Specialized/Cycle Sport Concepts, Highland Brewing, Blue
Sky M.D., DNA Cycling, DeFeet, HD Coaching, PEAK 10, Omnium Bodyworks, and
CarboRocket, without whose generous support we would be unable to pursue our
goals of developing riders and promoting a healthy and sustainable
lifestyle.***
No comments:
Post a Comment