ID3: SkyPix Criterium (Race #2)

Posted by Dan on 5. July 2009 02:22

Another great day of racing! Today's event was a crit in downtown Roanoke. The 0.7 mile course had 5 left turns and a right turn going up a short hill. This hill proved to be quite a speed bump and a perfect place to wear down the field. Once atop the hill, two left turns took you back down and another put you on the finishing straight. High speed corners and lots of manholes. Fortunately it didn't rain.

I entered the Cat 3/4 as part of the omnium. The pace started off pretty fast - like 29+ fast. That's Fitchburg fast. It slowed after 2 or 3 laps to a more manageable pace, but a break of two wanted to keep it going. Lucas Harville and Dominik Meier went off the front and were joined later by two more. Half-way through the race, the perfect opportunity to form a chase group formed immediately after a prime so go I went. Eventually there were about six or so in the chase group. The workload was a bit lopsided, but it worked (pun intended). Based on the times being called out on the back stretch, it seemed the lead group of 4 was working very well together and keeping their lead fairly consistent despite our greater numbers. Long story short, I led with 2 to go, dropped back and got 4th in the sprint, 8th overall.

There you have it. I'm sure there will be some good pics up later, but I didn't take any of them. You'll have to use your imagination. When you do, I'm the one in blue.

Tomorrow is the East Coasters Criterium (Race #3).