Coming off a solid weekend in Roanoke and week of training at Jules’ house in North Carolina I was confident I could fight for the podium and with some luck and good legs, the win. Saturday we had a welcome surprise of a rain shower 15 minutes before the Women's race. It was only enough to keep the dust down and the cloud cover helped make it a little cooler. Sidney had a strong race making the lead group and nipping Mannon Bakker with a bike throw for 3rd. Kaya had a tumble and had to take a couple trips to the pits but kept on it to finish.
I had a strong start and slotted into the lead group. Tobin quickly came to the front and controlled the pace for the majority of the first two laps. Stroh took over and started going hard and after three laps it was Storhmeyer, Tobin and myself. I could tell Tobin was struggling in The Jungle section of the course so I ripped that section and attacked out of it to get rid of him. Coming onto the finish straight when we got 4 to go I flicked Stroh through and he decided to attack. It was a well timed attack as I was on the limit and couldn’t hold the wheel. With the win gone I had to focus on holding off Tobin. I didn’t make my job easier by crashing on the exit of double trouble and with three laps to go Tobin caught me with a charging Henry Coote. I planned to attack in The Jungle and try and hold it to the finish but on the penultimate lap Henry ran into the back of me on an off camber section, forcing him and Tobin to run. I went all in from there and after Henry dropped a chain later that lap I was able to finish up 2nd for my best C1 result, one spot better than Roanoke. Jules struggled after being caught up in a crash in the first turn and finding it challenging to jump between groups on such a fast course.
Sunday was an improvement for the team but I had my personal struggles. Sidney once again rode in the lead group the whole race but this time had a scrappy battle with Helene Clauzel on the final lap narrowly missing out on the win. Kaya had a fast start then settled in, turning consistent laps finishing 9th.
In the Men's race Storhmeyer went from the gun. It took me a half lap to get to the front of the group but when I got there I was able to reel him in towards the end of lap one. His plan foiled we sat up and at the conclusion of lap two had a 12 man group. I was not a fan of this, while I was towards the front, I don’t like racing in large groups because there are more variables out of my control. However, I was hesitant to ride the front because of the heat. It was 80 degrees, no cloud cover and some humidity so it was easy to go too deep and blow up as Curtis did on Saturday. On the fourth lap Kerry was leading, Tobin second and I was third. Tobin let Kerry get a gap and left it to Tyler Clark. Jules took advantage of this lull to bridge to our group and set up a great second half of his race. Storhmeyer came to the front and ripped across to Kerry taking Marcis with him and I missed the train, stuck behind Tobin in The Jungle. The next lap I gave it everything to try and snap close but I neither closed the gap to the leaders or got significant separation from the chase group. Rather than accepting my fate, I got too focused on trying to catch Marcis and fight for the podium but the others in the chase group were content fighting for fourth. The race took an unexpected turn when Kerry flatted with three to go and our group passed him. On the final lap I tried to move past Tobin and Tyler Clark before the Double Trouble feature but they out maneuvered me. I made it past on the bike path towards the jungle and punched it through the twist and turns. I had a few bike lengths exiting that section but didn’t have the legs to hold it to the finish. Tobin and Jules came around me on the grass straights before the stairs before Kerry and Tyler passed me on the stair case. Far from the end to the weekend I wanted. I am in 3rd in the USCX standings 4 points behind Kerry. Sydney is solidly in second while Kaya and Jules are both in 9th but within striking distance of the top 5. We are spending the week in Pennsylvania before making our way south to Baltimore for the third USCX weekend.
Komentarze