Thursday, April 26, 2012

Time is Flying

The weeks are already blending together and  forget how long I have been on the road. It has been a lot of fun travailing with the guys and staff of the team. We really do get along with each other very easy, it makes it a lot easier to suffer for each other during the races.

Last weekend was the second stop for us for the NCC serires in Anistion AL for the Sunny King Crit. It was another twilight crit in downtown which always makes for a fun and exciting race. It was a 1.5 hr crit and attack after attack. Ben got in a break with Phil from Kenda and drove it for many laps to give us a free ride in the pack. Then once brought back it was back to work to cover moves. In the end Tino Conor and I were in charge to keep the speeds high in the final laps to prevent any late race attacks so Carlos could go for the sprint. In the end Carlos finished 2nd. It was a late night after the race, it is always hard to fall a sleep with all the adrenaline going from the race.


 Last couple laps with Team Exergy on the front!

The Hardest Part of the weekend was having a 8am Road Race start Sunday morning . We had about a 30 min drive to the race start so it was a 5 am wake up call to eat and pack the van. With only about 5 hrs of sleep we were all unsure how the bodies would react. It was a 70 mile hilly course and about 70 guys starting. We were only able to use the right side of the road which always makes it hard to move up so once you are in good position you must fight to stay there. About 20 miles in Tino got in a break that went to the finish. Tino finished 7th and the rest of the team rolled in with the main pack.
We are all now back in Georgia for Speedweek starting this Saturday in Athens. 9 days with 7 crits. Its like a stage race for the crit squads.

Thanks for reading

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

BAM

Well I have already been on the road for a week now into my next racing block. I am currently in Charlotte North Carolina. We had a Big race on Saturday downtown called The Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium , the highest paying crit in the USA. We were allowed to have 6 guys in the race but we only had five because Tinos plane got delayed coming from Columbia. We did not let that make an effect on the five of us. With it being a two hour crit and the longest crit I have ever done I did not know how the body would react. It was a very fast hard race which was expected but we as a team did very well. We all did what was needed but coming out of the last corner on the last lap there was a crash which made our sprinter Carlos tap his breaks but still managed 5th!
On Sunday there was a smaller crit that quite a few other  teams stuck around to race Noda Grand Prix. It was a 6 corner race with the 3rd and 4th being very tight corners. It was a fast race from the gun and we rode very aggressive. We were up the road all day. With about 14 laps to go Conor road off the front until Kenda brought it back with 8 laps to go. Then all six if us assembled at the front and made a train for Carlos. It was very cool to ride like that and in the end Carlos won. It was a great feeling to get a victory on the first weekend of this trip.
We are off to Alabama tomorrow morning for the Sunny King Crtit this Saturday!
1 lap to go