What an amazing first road Twilight Race of the season. Rain and chill didn’t stop over 90 folks from showing up to ride around in circles for an hour or two. Thanks for all who showed up! The year is just beginning, but it looks like this will be one for the record books. Racing was safe and fun in all categories. This was especially impressive considering the high number of racers and the low temperatures of weather. Good on’ya!

First off, want to thank Jenny Frayer for helping out so much with getting supplies, marking off the course…and racing 2 events! What an animal. Also want to throw a big thanks to Morgan for helping out with registration (sorry for the crap-tutorial). Thanks also to the mentors, Ricardo Bulisimo, Dan Brown, and Rich Paul. Your efforts were very much appreciated by all the riders. Lastly, big thanks to all the blokes who helped with the scoring of riders. You were all a huge help and I appreciate your standing around in the cold with me.

The Races:

C Event – This was a ridiculously fast event. The average speed for the C group was the same, or higher, than the B event. That’s just nuts. From the gun it was flat-out, with 5 junior riders slamming down for all they were worth. Bryan Alders, Wayne Smith, Kyle Smith, Joseph Little, and Nate Sowle are all riders under 18 - and were all riding those bikes like they stole ‘em. Also making the break were Jeff Griffo and Bill Nagel. This group would pull away from the pack and fight out the Sprint Points and Cash Premes for the next 30 minutes. In the finale, Bryan would win the sprint by a few bike lengths, with Jeff and Bill behind. A chase group of 3 (Nate Sowle, Calvin Smith, and James Herzman) would finish strongly behind the winning break, with Chris Fields of the Procrastinating Pedalers taking the field sprint for 10^th.

B Event – The B Event was the largest field and most intriguing race of the day. A lot of different teams were represented and there were many, many competitive riders of similar athletic ability. Attacks would flare out of the pack the entire 45 minutes of the event. A particularly nasty counter-attack with 5 laps to go was put in by young Nick Blades. He would pound away solo for a few laps and win a cash preme, but get caught in the final 2 laps. It was a glorious pack sprint down the long finishing stretch. Taking his normal high and outside line, Steve Kaufman jumped and was powering a huge gear toward the line. But on the inside, it would be Eric Wang leaping off of Rich Paul’s wheel and using his superior high-end speed to take a well-earned victory, finishing just ahead of Steve. After a very aggressive day of riding, Shawn Pearson would nab 3^rd ahead of Rich, with Mike Damon filling out the podium for 5^th.

Again, a very impressive day of racing all around.

A Event – This was definitely a slugfest from the word go. Motion Potion’s Bubba Melcher would animate the race early, getting away with a different Bike Warehouse rider every couple of laps. With 5 laps to go the final move went away. Two young riders, Jouzas Martynaitis and Aussie Michael Crupitt would power away from the field, driving their gap up to 30 seconds and holding it to the line. The two definitely earned their stripes, the lines of suffering evident on their faces every time through the finish area. Jouzas would take the sprint for his first win at the Air Center in the Advanced Category. It was a victory done with style and strength…as they all should be. Michael Crupitt looks to be increasing his form from last year and will be a serious contender for the summer events. Taking the field sprint for 3^rd would be Tom Skyles, narrowly edging out Bill Daley with a bike throw at the line.

Fine racing everyone!

See you at Boca next week.

m