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richg1222
Starting Member
USA
39 Posts |
 Posted - 08/29/2008 : 11:34:06
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It was a great day for a bike race - slightly overcast which kept the heat at bay given it's still August in AZ. OPV had its largest showing of the year in Cat 4 with six riders. Rich Horn took full advantage of the temps and applied his own heat to the Cat 4, 34 rider strong peloton by providing multiple attacks off the front. These were no ordinary, off a few meters only to be caught seconds later attacks, these were full out, peloton has to react out of fear of losing attacks - great work! Ywaine added his own effort by inflicting damage at the start of the climb giving himself up early to better the team's overall position. Gavin looked and felt strong but unfortunately for him, he flatted shortly after on the climb and in a race like that, your day is over without it ever really getting started. Pete, Troy and Rich G were all conserving nicely keeping their noses out of the wind as much as possible which was the strategy for the day. Late in the race with 10k to go, Pete had a strong move and followed a Taser guy off the front. He had a gap for a while but it was ultimately shut down by the advancing group. Taser being a more powerful rider, set an extreme TT pace which would of been better suited for a rider like Gavin to take it to the house. In the end, it was pretty much a sprint finish with various gaps forming all around. Troy took full advantage of being well positioned near the front and raced home for an awesome 4th place finish, putting him in the money and earning him 6 cat 3 upgrade points - very well done. Rich G started his kick at the 200M sign due to poor situational awareness (lesson learned - know where 1K and the finish line is) but still managed to weave his way through for a 7th place finish. Horn was not far behind and ended in 11th, but given the amount of work he did for the team, that is a terrific result. Pete finished shortly after Horn somewhere near 15th, but due to bad scoring, you will see him listed in last which was not the case. Gavin and Ywaine finished well off the leaders, but the team appreciates their efforts and knows their days will come when they are rubbing elbows for podium finishes - welcome to Cat 4 guys. Overall a fun time was had by all, and I think OPV is starting to makes its mark on AZ racing.
Rich
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Skull Valley Results
Posted - 08/29/2008 : 18:30:29
