Before I begin, I must say that our thoughts are with those that have and are suffering from the terrible tornadoes that touched down in our backyards down here in Lake, Sumter, volusia and surrounding communities. As far as we know, none of our teammates were directly affected, thank goodness.
The A Race:
Once again, our own Scott Pfaff raced well with the A's, staying protected, and racing a smart race, letting the pro's, 1's and 2's do their own thing. Several breaks got away from the main pack, and we could tell the pace was fast as they chased down the groups ahead. Scott finished with the main pack (I'm sorry I don't have the placings right now), in a respectable position. I'm sure he is happy with his pre-season results, and is looking forward to his Master's races this year.
Good Luck from all of us Scott!!
The Juniors Race:
Well, you should have seen little Justin Pfaff lighting up the Juniors race!!
The juniors start was combined with the women's racers once again. Justin was unleashed with the rest of the juniors a couple minutes prior to the ladies' start. I think there were approximately 10 juniors racing. As I was warming up, I as well as others tried to give some velocity-coaching as he passed us. he tagged onto a pack of one woman rider, and two juniors toward the middle of the race. The other two juniors fell off, and the next time he came around, it was him drafting off of the girl in front of him. (His father has taught young grasshopper well about the importance of the draft) a couple laps later, here he comes down to the finish all by himself, then with 100 yards to go, he stands up and gives the crowd the ultimate example of a powerful sprint (in his drops, of course). Justin came across the line as the first junior!!!
Congratulations Justin. You have a bright future in cycling.
The B Race:
I'll try to stay calm whilst I write this one.
So,
On our way up to Alachua this weekend, we found out that many of the Cycle-Logic team members would be absent from the race on Saturday for various reasons. this was unfortunate because of the great racing that had taken place by all of the teammates that showed for the last two races. We were really hoping for a great turnout, and an even greater race for the final Dan's practice criterium.
When the races started, it was me (yours truly James Penrod), Paul Messal, and Joshua Pittman who decided to come out for his first race of the season, and Cat up to a 4, to roll with the big boys!! With Josh coming off of a knee injury, I think he was trying to test the waters a bit, and stay safe this time, just to see how bad the effort was going to get. I can't blame him for that. He did a great job of staying protected throughout the race, and he finished with the pack, after a quick offroad excursion in the last half lap. Paul protected himself well also, and sprinted for a top ten finish. Unfortunately, it's harder for me to sum up their race this time because I was a little more active than I had been in the previous races (which worried a certain spectator named Veronica Geist).
The races were split such that the Cat 4 men raced separately from the Cat 5 men (which prompted the cat-up by Josh). At the start we saw about 8 or 10 colavita riders, as well as 6 or 7 Atomic Riders, and a few more riders that had not shown up at the previous two races. The Cat 4 field was about 35 or 40 strong, so about the same size as the previous two races, but with no Cat 5's racing with us, so we figured the pace was going to be a little higher.
As predicted by some, and unknown to others, Mike Niemi and Wes Wolfenbarger broke off the front (as they had in the previous two races), but didn't get caught this time. With only three Cycle Logic riders in the pack, it didn't make sense for us to head up a chase, and since Colavita showed up en masse, we kind of figured they would organize some sort of chase. Well, the two man break stuck to the end, with Mike getting first place, finishing well ahead of the pack. With half a lap to go, an erratic move sent several riders into the grass, and one Atomic Rider (Jimmy) back first into the pave'. I was in third position at this point, and was clueless what was happening behind me. I think Paul was just in front of the mess, and Josh, who had been saving his energy for the finish was forced off the road, and out of contention. I approached the last corner in third place, and decided it might be best to get through the corner at breakneck speed in front of everyone. So as I stood, one of the Colavita riders who had the same idea, slipped by me allowing me to slip right onto his wheel. At over 27 mph, we blistered through the last turn, flying up to the finish. I was in the perfect position to outsprint the rider in front of me as he use all of his energy to pull me up to the line. That's when I realized he was leading his own guy out. As I heard the carbon wheels accelerate in my right ear, I knew someone else had gotten the drop on ME. I stood up as he passed, and got to the line 2nd, finishing 4th because of the two-man breakaway. WHOOOO!!! After 3 years of trying, I won Dan's Money!!!
Once again, a great racing experience for the Cycle Logic team. Thank you to all that raced, and especially to all that braved the cold and cheered us all on. I am soooo looking forward to seeing us race in the upcoming season.
We'll see you all at the races!!
James Penrod
CYCLE LOGIC
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