cross

cross

Monday, September 3, 2012

Gateway Cup, Giro

Yesterday was certainly a good, bad, and ugly kind of day. I woke up hoping for some dry weather but it was not to be. It was raining and that would be the theme of the day a persistent rain showers rolled through the area. A few of us had really hoped to get a short ride in to spin out the legs but after cleaning up the bikes we decided to just leave a little early and warm up at the race.

So we got loaded up and jumped in the van, only to find out the battery was dead. On top of that there are no jumper cables to be found. Luck for us our host, Mark, went over to the neighbors and found some there. So after a short delay we were off for the Giro de Montagnia.

We get to the race a bit late and the great debate begins. Do you set up for rain or not. It's dry but the radar shows a pretty good possibility of rain. Most of us set up for rain and are ready to go. Warming up I was definitely feeling the effects of the first 2 days of racing. Pretty tight and sore legs but you never know, maybe I can ride into the race and feel better.

So we line up and I had a pretty decent spot on the line. My only issue was that I was right next to the fence. At the whistle we take off and the guy next to me leans over and runs me into the fence. Instantly I went from the front of a 120 rider field to the back.The first few laps of the race were fast but after that the pace backed off and I slowly worked my way up to the front of the field. The bad part of that it started misting and then a light rain started to fall. Naturally it turned the roads to ice and the carnage began. This time I wasn't as lucky as the first 2 races and I got caught up in a couple of crashes. I can't complain, at least I only got stopped by the first crash and just fell onto the pile in the 2nd. No bike damage, no skin loss, I'll take it.

I got in a small group and kept riding but it wasn't long before we got pulled. Bummer, but I went and put on some dry clothes and watch the rest of the team go at it. The guys were riding strong and working as a team. Zach helped Nick get a $100 prime and the rest of the guys got to the front for the end of the race. Once again Shadd and Colton set up next to Jelly Belly lead out train for the last 5 laps and kept Zach in position for the sprint. It paid off with a 6th for Zach and 12th for Shadd.


Pre-race clean up


It's the Giro Baby!






 
Not sure where to go with the photo credits here, some are mine, some are from the STL Biking site. There are a bunch of photos from the weekend on the STL Biking site if you go to the Forum.
 
Last day of Gateway Cup today. The Benton Park course is by far the hardest course of the 4. Hoping I'll have the legs to help the team today since I got a bit of a rest yesterday. The forecast is for dry conditions.....


No comments: