Vicious Piccolos in South Florida

Ok, not a fun weekend for Big Ryan, Il Flaco and the Dogg.
Saturday's .5 mile flat crit course at Brian Piccolo park was shaped like the letter "B" but rode like an "F."

The curvaceous course and 25 mph crosswind singled up every race like a string of sweaty, gasping, dayglo pearls desperately trying to cling together. Every lap found racers torquing hard left then right then sprinting out of the saddle over and over then slamming into a headwind on the only straightaway. The string was constantly broken with loose pearls scattering every single lap until only enough remained to make a small bracelet.

In the Pro 1,2 race only a dozen or so finished as a group. Ryan was rolled off a little before that.

In the 3 race I'l Flaco managed to roll up a $50. preme while The Dogg finished with the pack panting and drooling dog slobber everywhere.

The next day at Vista (Vicious) View park the gusty winds were even stronger and two surprisingly steep hills worked us over.
Vista View is a man-made mountainous anomaly of trash piled 100' high and situated at the edge of the dead flat Everglades. Covered with grass, the 30 or so acres has a winding, hilly paved road circuit of 1.5 miles that is only totally opened to the public for bike races.
The view of suburban neighborhoods stretches for miles in all directions and it appears homeowners, desperate for any change in elevation above southern swampland actually pay a hefty premium to back their homes up to a toxic landfill.

The race, with a hill top finish was all about staying in the front to maintain momentum in the tricky, often off- camber corners. The first hill had 70' of elevation change and a stiff crosswind. At the hilltop you expect a little rest on the decent but a rude headwind practically pushed you back up. Upon hitting the bottom you make a hard 90 then climb up 50' in elevation to the start/finish. At this point riders who had a little left tried to jump away on the 1/2 k flat but curving flat top. Then you plummet back down to a greater than 90 degree off camber left turn then head back to the big hill. Over and over you were either sprinting up two big hills, chasing solo breakaways or trying not to fly off the course into a toxic pond at the base. Every race broke up fast and finished with about a dozen.

B. Ryan placed 8th - 3 out of the money and Il Flaco about the same but with another $50. preme.
The Dogg, having an inexplicably bad day, got dropped early on but managed to team up with another loser and finished just ahead of the lapping leaders and emerged victorious ahead of all the other losers!

I can't wait to try this course again.

K-Dogg