The race went smoothly, and I was able to sit in the pack and conserve energy for the most part. The Georgia Tech guys (Christian and Nathaniel) and I had to work to bring back a breakaway on the second lap, but then the group came together to set up for the sprint. I positioned myself behind Nathaniel, because I knew he was the strongest guy in the field. Christian led us all the way up to the last few hundred meters and then Nathaniel launched his sprint, with me on his wheel. I rode in his slipstream for a little bit and then sling-shotted around him and outsprinted everyone for the victory! Woohoo! It felt amazing. I took a few photos after to have record of the nastiness that I had all over myself and my bike from the wet roads:
The other guys got there right before my race ended and their's started shortly thereafter. They went two laps, and they had a HUGE field (like 50 guys!). They all were in the lead group until about 3.5 miles to go, Forrest was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he went down. It was really unfortunate. Frank and Chris, however were in the lead pack and both finished in the top 15.
We had most of the afternoon to rest before the Team TT and the ITT for me. When we got back to the parking area, we got a real nice man to take a couple of pictures of us:
As you can see by the clouds, it was going to rain. And boy, did it rain. And rain. And rain some more. Needless to say, our motel room will never quite smell the same after we left...
The guys did the Team Time Trial, and did a really good job, beating Florida's B-Team! I did the individual time trial, and finished third in my Category B.
The next day was the final race, the criterium in downtown Monticello, in the shadow of this beautiful building:
The guys had the first race, at 8:00 AM, and the weather was beautiful. They did really well in a gigantic field once again, with Frank and Chris both winning Primes and all three finishing with the main group. They had a wonderful time.
My race was immediately after theirs. We had a small field. I once again stayed in the pack and conserved energy. Then, with about 5 laps to go, Nathaniel from GA Tech, attacked and I knew I had to go with him. We, along with a guy from King College and a guy from South Florida, were out front for two or three laps when we got caught with a lap and a half to go. As soon as we got caught, I launched an attack of my own, and left the field. The problem was Nathaniel also left the field and was only seconds behind me. I gave it my all, but he caught and passed me with 150 meters to go and I got second. I had nothing left in the tank, kudos to him.
Here's a video shot from Frank's iPhone of the finish:
All in all, it was a great weekend and we all had a blast! Can't wait for GA Tech in less than two weeks!
Nathan
