Alabama Race Weekend ITT and Road Race

We brought 6 guys to the Alabama race weekend, and they brought the pain.

First up was the Individual Time Trial. 10 miles on the Tour de Tuscaloosa/UA Road Race course. It is hilly, it is intense, and it is extremely difficult as a road race course, much less so for a Time Trial.

First up, and we do mean first, was Curtis. With his fresh Cat 3/A upgrade, and being the first A to register, he got to go first. He was none so happy about it, he is like a dog, he needs something to chase. Regardless, he put in a great effort, rolling in at 2nd place in the A's category (which had 2 A riders...) and well above the rest of the field.

Joe pulled in a solid 5th place finish in the C's , the hilly course catering to his strengths. The official results for the rest of the team are pending.

Next was the Road Race. The C field was about 25 strong, the B field was 5 strong, and the A field was a total of 4. The A's and B's were combined, both would ride 50 miles. Joe, Clinton, Barrett, Daniel and Josh all rode in the C race, while Curtis rolled in the A/B race.

In the C race, an Alabama rider attacked right off the start, got some support from some other teams, while the Alabama boys rode support on the front of the field by slowing it down. The initial acceleration blew up the C race, and Josh/Daniel/Clinton got hit pretty quick. Joe tried to make a break with a Georgia Tech rider to try and bridge up to the breakaway. Very very very very rarely is a breakaway successful in a C race. Today was a day it did. By attacking from the start and the Alabama riders playing beautiful teamwork, the confusion allowed the riders to get away. Daniel and Josh ended up trying to chase back onto the field with an Emory rider who refused to pull his weight, rode erratically and really hampered their efforts. Daniel layed down the law with some very harsh words, and the rider oh so suddenly began to work. They got back within 20 seconds of the pack before the uphill finish. Clinton, who was hanging on towards the back of the pack, dropped a chain at the bottom of the climb while with 2 other riders. he had to fix his chain and start from the bottom of the hill. Meanwhile, in the pack, Joe managed to sprint for a 6th place overall finish, and Barrett held for 8th.

In the A race, they started with 9 riders, 4 A's and 5 B's. Joking and laughing ensued, but apparently the A rider from Emory wasn't confident in his climbing/sprinting abilities. The B from Georgia Tech apparently also felt frisky, and on the first climb of the first lap they pounded the pace. We all held on and eventually brought them into the fold. Curtis uttered "douchebag" under his breath, which Sam Barr (Alabama) found funny. The field continued to cover Emory's attacks, and 9 fell to 7. After the big climb it fell to 6. Emory attacked again, and this time the field decided to let him go and burn himself out. He had not been particularly strong, just aggressive, and his moronic riding was wearing the field down. They decided to let him go, banking he would tire and get caught. Unfortunately, each time the field hit the final climb, Curtis would inadvertantly drop a B rider. By the end of lap 3, It was only Curtis, Sam and Florida, all of the A's, while Emory was up the road. About 2 miles into the lap there is a super steep mini climb. When we hit that climb, Sam's legs just couldnt go anymore. We were maintaining a very good pace (around 23), and with such a small field, without recovery, it was too much witht he hills. So for the last lap and a half it was just Curtis and the kid from Florida (who smoked the ITT), and with only 2 riders catchin the Emory rider was unlikely. Curtis switched from chase mode to survival/tactical mode. He wanted to pull as little as possible when it mattered, maximize his efficiency, and put a little bit of hurt on the Florida rider. The Florida rider was very weak on climbs, and while an excellent time trialer, simply was not well suited for sprinting and climbing. So Curtis would pull at a decent rate uphill, not to break the rider but just to hurt him a little bit. He would usually allow the FL rider to pull up the 2nd half of the hills and over the top. For some reason he was a great descender, so he used that against him. Right before the final climb there is a SCREAMING descent, a slight upgrade, a sharp right, then the climb. Curtis let the UFL guy lead the descent, Curtis led up the gradual climb, then let the UFL guy lead up the first half of the long final climb. Once the UFL guys pulled off to switch, Curtis attacked about 500 m from the finish on the steepest part of the climb, before it levels off. Once it levels off, there is about 200m before the last 100m climb to the finish. He looked back and his attack worked, the UFL rider was sucking wind. He stood up one more time and hammered up the last few meters of the climb, taking 2nd in style.

Great results for the first day. Joe gets another top 10, Barrett breaks the Top 10, and Josh/Clinton/Daniel got their first taste of racing. Tomorrow is the parking lot crit, more updates to come!