Monday, May 28, 2007

South Range Road Race Recap


Only 20 or so starters for the Cat 1/2/3 105 mile road race. I knew at the start that I probably wouldn't go the distance, and save some for Monday. However, I didn't plan to sit in either.

After the neutral start, it was pretty laid back. Kruiser took off solo about 1/2 way through the first lap. Mike Johnson attacked right at the start of the 2nd lap, but was reeled in. Then Ryan Hebert drilled it up the hill, and strung us out. Then Mike Johnson attacked again, and Dan Casper joined him. From that point on, Grandstay was in control. Rod Raymond, I, and some others would dial it up once and a while, but Mike and Dan pulled a 5 minute lead in a matter of a couple laps. They caught Kruiser, who stayed with them a while, but then was dropped.

After the 3rd lap, I saw I had 60 miles and 3 hours on my legs, and I figured that was enough. I dropped off in the feedzone during the 4th lap, and headed back to the truck to check on Jordan.

Shortly after that, the field caught Krusier. Casper started cramping on lap 5, and ended up stopping after 5 laps. This left Mike Johnson to ride over a lap by himself, which he did in impressive fashion. He pretty much held his gap over the field. The field sprint for 2nd was won by Chia Kung followed by Ryan Herbert and then Brian Koeneman.

Dag Selander asked the juniors to ride together for the 1st lap of their race, and then roll the dice on the second lap. Jordan said he had a great time riding with everyone, doing a rotating paceline, etc. Apparently Colton Barrett was making comments along the way, and had the group laughing. During the last lap, Colton, Alex, and Raymond took off, and Jordan decided not to chase since he was the only younger junior in the race. He and Peter Gehrety were riding together when Peter accidentally crossed his front wheel on Jordan's rear, and crashed. Dag was following the group, and stopped to help Peter to his feet and finish. Turns out he was OK. Jordan ended up 4th overall, and 1st younger junior.

No comments: