I raced in the Colavita Cup in nearby Sanford FL over the weekend. It
consisted of 2 different crit courses saturday & sunday, & the team I'm
on, Atlantic Shores Velo, was the promoter.
Colavita is a pasta & olive oil company that plans to start marketing in FL,
so they decided to get involved in sponsoring a race here. They also sponsor a
team up in the NE, so a number of their team flew down just for this race
weekend. This included 2000 Olympic sprint gold medalist Marty Nothstein, who
just won a 6 day race in Moscow last week. Also at the race was team Saturn's
sprinter extraordinaire Ivan Dominguez, who lives in Orlando when not racing
around the country.
Needless to say, the pro 1,2 crits were expected to be blazing.
The saturday course was a big flat rectangle next to Lake Monroe in downtown
Sanford. Very fast, but with a very bumpy s/f straightaway. After having done
the master 30-39 race in the morning & coming in 8th while helping a couple
of teammates in our breakaway, I only warmed up for about 10 minutes before the
pro 1,2 event, a 90 minute plus 5 lap race. Luckily I felt good, & that as
all the warm up I needed. The pace was quick from the start, with a slight
headwind on the back straight keeping things a bit in check, but helping push
the pace down the s/f straight above 30mph just about every lap. I know I saw
35mph on my computer on more than one occaision. Attacks would keep coming, but
nothing was getting away. I & my teammates jumped on anything that moved,
making sure we either had someone in any break attempt, or helped reel in
anthing that didn't. Marty's Colavita guys were very busy too. At one point a
large break pulled off the front, & Marty bridged up solo, but then Ivan got
on the front & single-handedly towed the whole pack up to the break. Yikes!
The guy is an animal. My team didn't have anyone up there, so that worked out
fine for us.
About halfway through the race I was feeling a bit tired, but ok. Then suddenly
my rear tire slipped some in a turn. At first I thought someone bumped my rear
wheel, but then I looked down & it looked like the tire was getting soft. A
few guys who came by me mentioned it too, so I backed off & cruised into the
pit for a wheel change. Well I have to tell you that it was a blessing in
disguise, because when I got pushed back into the race, I felt great! Just
needed a lap of rest. Hey, I'm closing in on 41, ok??? LOL.
With about 20 minutes to go, another break of 3 went off the front, & I went
to the front to try & help reel it in. So I look back, & instead of
towing the whole pack along like I thought, I discovered I had a big gap, so I
started going as hard as I could to catch the break. I closed in on them, but
couldn't quite make it. Just then 2 guys from another team came flying up to me,
so I jumped on the back & they pulled me most of the way there before I took
the final pull up to the 3 man break. In our break of 6, we had 4 strong FL
teams represented, so we put the hammer down hoping our teammates back in the
pack could shut things down. A couple of surprising absences were Marty's
Colavita squad, & Ivan.
The race was winding down, & we held at most only a 30 second lead, with lot
of unfriendly horsepower still back in the pack, & us guys in the break
occaisionaly jockeying for postion, wasting precious time. With 5 laps to go
Ivan went to the front of the pack & started towing everyone along at warp
speed. We in the break could see them getting closer, so we gave it everything
we had. I was hurting so bad I could barely pull through. I knew the other guys
in the break could all kick my butt in the sprint, so I figured 6th was better
than getting swallowed by the pack, & I did all I could to help keep the
pace up.
Around the final turns, 3 of the guys in the break got a gap, with the others
staying behind me. But the pack was practically on us, so there was no time to
play cat & mouse, again thinking 6th was better than whatever, so I went as
hard as I could to catch the front 3, knowing I was giving a leadout to the the
guys behind me. The s/f straight was VERY long, & as we started down it all
the other guys in the break took off to sprint it out, leaving me in TT mode
just trying to hold off the pack. I took one look back & there they were,
all charging like a swarm of bats out of hell. All I could think of was those
Tour de France stages were one guy is off the front coming to the finish,
desperately trying to hold on, & you see the pack roaring down on him in the
background, all the sprinters just flying up the road.
And I knew both Marty & Ivan were still back there somewhere. So I just
buried myself, looking ahead at the finishline seemingly so far away, giving it
every last ounce of energy I had. And I was thinking that I couldn't let my
teammates down. To be in the winning break, only to be caught at the line.
The line got closer & closer, as my quads were now on fire. All I could do
was TT, there was no sprint at all in me. The tailwind could only do so much,
but at least I had that. Finally across the finishline, with no one from the
pack passing me!!!!! I was told afterward that the pack sprint was no more than
a few bike lengths behind me at the line! Whew!!!!! Jason Snow of the Cycle
Science team out of south FL won.
So please excuse me for patting myself on the back, but this has to be one of
the highights of my 22 year bike racing career. Only 6th place in a 6 man break
yeah, but beating both Marty Nothstein AND Ivan Dominguez in a pro 1,2 crit!!!
Woo hoo!!!
Ok, I will also mention that in the sunday pro 1,2 crit, on a more difficult
technical course with alot more wind, I got my butt kicked & dropped out an
hour into the 90 plus 5 race. Ivan Dominguez won easliy in a 2-man break with
Ivan Franco from a south FL team, & who is also a former member of the ONCE
team in Spain. He was also in the break with me on saturday. They lapped the
field. Marty got 4th.
But I'll always remember that saturday race. No pics yet, but there may be some
coming up. I'll post them if & when.