Ronde Van Brisbeen Day 2

DAY 2: Serria Point Criterium
Date: 4/2/06
Course: .8-mile? Technical course, with a “hot dog” corner (hairpin)
and very tight chicane that led into the last 300 meters including
the 150 meter sprint off the final corner to the finish.
Category: Elite 4
Field: 40+
Teammate: Scott, Josh, James and Tony (Juan in the Masters)
Place: 2nd/ 25mph avg speed 1st Overall Ominum Elite 4
Results: http://www.pilarcitos.com/RondevanBrisbeen/2006results


After yesterdays race I was looking forward to the crit. We went in to this race with Scott as the #1 guy. He had the best shot at winning the overall and if I could finish with him on the podium we would likely both be in the overall.

Scott was the only guy who had ridden this course before and told me the chicane was tight. After warming up in the morning I went over to take a look and he was right. This was going to be a very technical course that would favor a small/ solo break. I am very good on the technical crit courses and the hairpin and chicane made me feel like it was a small road race course (motorcycle).

I managed to get in 2 sighting laps and lined up on the front line. Off we go and I went to the front and pushed the pace with Josh, Tony, Scott and James on my heels. The Squdera boys were they’re also lending a hand to keep the pace high. After some laps of going through rotations on the front I needed a break, so I dropped back into around 10-12th~ and recovered. At this time a 2-person break went off the front. With the brutal headwind on the straight I didn’t think they would last and kept tabs on the time gap, which was around 20-25 sec…

As I start moving back to the front, a rider next to me points at Scott’s rear wheel and states that his skewer is loose. I look down and to my dismay it was full open! My heart sank, knowing that Scott was to this point riding strong and with us working together we had a great chance to podium. I almost dropped back to help but with me in 3rd overall I new if I covered a few guys ahead of me in the sprint I might be able to take the overall. When the other guys saw Scott had a problem the pace went up right away. Of course they did not want him back in the group, can’t blame em’ that’s racing. I could only sit in and hope someone else saw the situation and dropped back to help Scott back into the group. James made a solid effort but just the 2 of them with the pace picking up chasing the solo break off the front, it wasn’t looking good for Scott to return to the fray. I was checking the time gap on him to us in the hairpin and it looked close for a bit but I had to put my head down and focus on the front end of the race.

With the solo break off the front now extended to 40+ sec it was looking like we might not catch him. There just wasn’t enough organization from the other teams/ riders to chase him down. I new the guy off the front was not in contention for the overall so I started thinking about covering the Webcor and Cyclesport guys in the sprint. At 7 laps to go it was time to sit up a bit and take stock off the situation and plan the last laps. Scott wasn’t coming back and it was up to me to come through with the goods. I was feeling strong and confident for it to come down to a field sprint.

With 2 laps to go, Josh came around me and I jumped on his wheel and let him know I was there. I think he used up a lot of matches to get there and could only sit in. I needed to move up a few positions across the finish line at the bell lap.

Bell lap…. I move up and got into around 7th place, we headed into the hairpin and I protected the inside and it put me on the out side of the entrance of the chicane, which worked out good. Guys were fighting for the inside and I rolled around them and got into perfect position into the last 300 meters. Nice…. 2nd wheel down to the final corner, I adjusted my gearing and as soon as we came off the corner, I moved to the inside and put the hammer down. I came across first in the field sprint but 2nd in the race due to the solo break which stayed away. This was a very short sprint only 150 meters, I hit a top speed of 54 kph….

Well, I did enough to win the Ominum Overall and got on the podium both days. A pretty good weekend for Fusion Sport. It’s unfortunate for Scott and I feel for him because he was looking really strong. Tony, Josh and James all gave it there all and we had a fantastic showing in both events. You guys all rock! Thanks to our Director Sportiff for capturing the moment in video and cheering, last but not least, Mother Nature who gave us dry conditions for both days!