Regions Bank Race Weekend – March 7th & 8th, 2009

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Prologue & Criterium

With the thick, cool morning fog making the roads wet we had to be more cautious railing the 12 corners of the 3.67km prologue. Prologue results put Michael in 3^rd, Eric in 5^th, Brannon in 9^th, Rob in 15^th & Reggie in 23^rd.

The sun was out and shining for the afternoon criterium and it was nice and warm. A pleasant change from the previous weekend’s racing weather. The Albany crit course is always a favorite with its unique shape and having 8 corners. The plan was to keep Michael safe, protect or get MAR primes and lead Michael out for the win. It was a fast race and another team (Jittery Joes Devo) was working hard for their GC rider Mark Babcock. However, we rode together as team better than expected this early in the season by reading the race and each other perfectly. We just clicked. Everyone was in the right spot at the right moments and we kept the race mostly under our control eventually leading Michael out for the win. Michael was now in the overall lead and Eric was in 6^th.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Road Race

The Albany road racecourse is a fast, flat course where wind is your worst enemy. Due to the flat and open terrain the wind is always the tail wind section always seems to be the shortest. With Michael in 1^st place and Eric in 6^th the plan was for both to do as little work as possible except for Michael getting at least one KOM bonus to further his time advantage. The team was to protect the other KOM’s and cover all breaks keeping Michael safe in the lead for the overall win. On lap two a breakaway got away and earned a 30 second gap to the main field. Rob managed to get in the break prior to the gap opening up too big and stayed in until about 10 miles from the finish. By this time the main field had lost several riders due to the fast pace.

Eric and Michael needed a pack finish so that everyone received the same time for the road race. This would secure their 1^st and 6^th positions in the overall. Organizing a chase was not easy with the lack of assistance from other riders and a rival team (with two riders in the breakaway) continually disrupting efforts to organize the chase. Having pulled the chase group for miles, Michael and Eric finally reeled in the break and the pack was back together for a group sprint finish.

- Click here for photos from the weeked -

Stage Results:

Michael 1^st place

Eric 6^th place

Reggie 15^th place

Rob 21^st place

Brannon 24^th place