My school year is over. Between final exams, prom, and grad parties, my training last week wasn't too hot. I went down to Bryan Park last weekend with the Kendalls. Steven and I did the JR race in the morning. Steven attacked from the start, and I followed. We had an early gap going into the first 90 degree turn. It was wet.. so Steven's rear wheel slid through the turn but we both pulled out of it alright. A couple seconds later we look back to see the whole Jr field (of maybe 6 guys) stack up through the turn. We were about 1 minute into the race and Steven joked about us just staying away for the rest of the race. I think only 1 rider stayed up and he eventually bridged up to us. So it was Steven and I against some kid on Fat Frogs. Steven and I took turns attacking him and eventually Steven stayed away. This race was a circuit and not a crit, so we were told at the start that there would be no free laps. Then during the race, on the backside, I see this kid with one foot on the curb, looking like hes about to jump back in the race. "Whats up dude? umm are you on our lap...?!" "Yeah! I crashed twice so I'm back in". WTF? Hahah. Then he took a pull at the front and disappeared maybe 1.5 laps later. We started the race with 15 laps.. and after coming through with 7 laps to go.. all of a sudden 5 laps disappear and we're at 2 to go. Word of the day was poor officiating with mixups of lap count all day. Steven stayed away for first and I got third.
I lined up for the 3/4 with Greg, Brad, and Steven. I got great position at the front and was in the first 10 -15 wheels through the first couple turns. Just in the first lap some idiot tried to move up on the outside, space didn't exist so he just slammed into Greg.. He was fine though. I'm still a 4.. and this was probably one of the fastest races I've done this year. I went from the front, to the middle, to the back, then back to the middle, to the front, and then the back. I spent the rest of the race between the middle and back of the pack. Man that race was hard. The road surface was sketch with cobble on the sides, cones in the middle of the road, trash cans, and holes everywhere. I'm sure I hit every hole on the course, and I'm glad my wheels didn't break in half. Steven, Brad, and Greg were active at the front. I saw Greg and Brad in huge breaks up the road, with Steven controlling the front. The plan was for Steven to lead them out for the sprint. They said they were in perfect position going into the last lap. With half a lap to go, there was a nasty crash right at the front of the pack. It split the field in a mess, and I sprinted for a pack finish. Greg got 6th, and Brad got 9th. Steven stayed up, but had to put a foot down in order to not go down in the mess. After the finish he realized he had someone else's blood on his leg.. I was happy that I finished what felt like a really hard race, and also that none of us went down in the crash. To make up for it all, they had unlimited free Chipotle burritos at the start finish.
After being up since 4am, I got home and had to study more for my Chemistry final. I was so tired. Then the next night I was at the Rescue Squad from 7-after 11pm. Blah Blah.. more not sleeping.. more studying. Repeat Tuesday night as well. My last exam was Wednesday. Then I had Prom Thursday night. It was a lot of fun, but I wasn't in bed til 4 the next morning. Friday I slept all day.. and did a 15 minute spin that night. Basically I hadn't exercised in a week, and I wasn't thinking I was gonna be too hot for Sally Ride.
I got in a good warm up, and the legs felt great. Actually I don't think I've felt better all year. NCVC locked down the Junior race. Avery went of the front right from the start. The rest of us blocked and he stayed away for 2 laps. Ben Mingo countered and he eventually got caught. Steven Black eventually attacked and everyone let him just roll away. Steven Kendall, Avery, and I blocked and followed any moves that went up the road. Steven Kendall countered an Artemis move, and stayed away to go 1, 2 with Steven Black. Avery did a solid job of locking down the front of the group and made sure no one got away. Right before the last lap, an Artemis rider attacked with me right on his wheel. Both of us thought we had the whole field right behind us. I looked back to see a huge gap, I attacked and soloed the last lap for 3rd. Steven Kendall got 1st and Steven Black got 2nd. NCVC JR podium sweep.
I think
Bert has the Cat 4 race covered. I'll just add a few things. The pace was sorta slow from the start and Avery and I were 2nd and 3rd wheel for the first 2 or 3 laps. I made sure I stayed at the front, and made sure I was in anything that went up the road (except for one that Chris C got in). I took a turn off the front for just over a lap and got back in to the front of the pack without issue. Apparently there were 2 crashes, but I only was only close enough to hear one. Jake King, 14 year old brother of Ben King, apparently went down really hard. I heard he took a chainring to the face and a wheel to the head. I don't have nearly enough experience or understanding of race officiating to really give an opinion of how the officials handled the situation, but I'm sure they had the best intentions considering the circumstances. All I'll say is that it was a mess from my point of view. For 3 laps, right through turn 2, the road went from 4 lanes to 1 to avoid EMS and road guards. Then with 17 laps to go, it's all of a sudden the last lap. This created a lot of confusion, yelling, bitching, and whining in the pack. Guys all of a sudden started sprinting to the front and diving the corners hard tight on the inside. I made an effort to maintain a decent position, but it really wasn't worth doing anything stupid. At the finish I can understand why guys were complaining about their race getting cut short and all, but I think it got a little ridiculous. Bert made a good point about how the race should have been neutralized, but some guys were just ridiculous. A 14 year old went down hard and took a chainring to the face, and these adult guys could only care about their refunds and their upgrade points. I'm sorry, but that's fucked up. He needed an ambulance, and it would have been impossible to continue the race with several ambulances and EMS personnel on the course. The WWVC promoter apologized for the situation, even though it clearly wasn't his fault. Shit happens, and its just a race. We have races every weekend.
This is what Ben King wrote on his Twitter:
BenKing89 Racing for my little bro today... He crashed in a cat 4 race yesterday. 70 stitches in his face. It was his birthday this week too.
