GC Gainesville Grand Prix, March 28th & 29th

Reality Bikes showed up in force to contest the Gainesville Omnium despite heavy thunderstorms that forced promoters to cancel the Saturday crit in favor of a Sunday afternoon circuit that would take place hours after the road race. ELITE ----------------- TT - A steady rain lightened as racers embarked on the out and back 7.8mi course that included several key rolling hills.  Adam Handler and Nathan Sibly of Aarons continued to enjoy good form finishing 1-2 and setting them up in good position for the overall.  Michael Bowen pulled out a great 5th place showing, and Brannon Amtower secured some points with 8th.  Eric Neely also finished well, just 7 seconds out of the points. RR - Sunday's weather was dry, but cold and windy.  The 4 lap, 68mi route had 3 KOMs on offer.  It promised to be a battle of Aarons vs Reality and Jittery Joes for securing overall honors.  The pace was kept fast as the teams marked each breakaway and kept it together so the contenders could grab KOM points.  Add the wind to the equation, and there was no break getting away today.  The team successfully led out Bowen and Brannon on the KOMs.  By the end of the day Bowen would have 5 points and Brannon 4 points.  On the run into the finish a rider flipped into a ditch disrupting the back half of the field.  It allowed Bowen and Brannon to get into position, but the rest of the Reality team was toast.  Brannon tried to start the sprint from a good position but got blocked out twice and settled for 5th while Bowen surged through to add another win to his resume.  Bowen now sat in 2nd overall behind Adam Handler of Aarons, and Brannon in 4th. Circut - Four hours later the ragged racers reported to the start line.  Several riders easily formed an escape as the teams with chances for the overall watched each other's main players.  By the end 9 racers would finish off the front.  Bowen took the field sprint, but Adam Handler marked him well and finished right behind to maintain his grip on the overall by 1 point.  Benjamin Bryant of Jittery Joes was in the break of the day and earned enough points thanks to the MAR and finishing 2nd to tie Bowen for 2nd overall and drop Brannon to 6th.  However, Bowen won the tie breaker by virtue of individual stage placings - a well deserved overall podium spot. MASTERS 35+/45+ -------------------------------- TT - In the Masters 35+ field Todd Muller had an uncharacteristicly off day but still ended up 4th, 5s off the podium.  Igor Rudalev of Myogenisis, and regular visitor to our Reality Bikes group rides, finished in 1st.  Reggie Pineda came in with a solid 6th place.  In the Masters 45+ field Tony Hergert finished 4th behind Ron Hill and Bill Causey, both of Security Bank. RR - The race had a similar feel to the Elite race where everyone marked each other and it stayed fast throughout.  Kirk Corsello of Aarons put on a show of strength taking the KOMs and the sprint finish.  Reality pulled off an amazing group finish of Todd Muller, Eric Anderson, and Mike Burns in 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively.  Mark Claar finished 5th in the 45+ group and Tony Hergert in 11th.  Todd was now in 3rd overall with Eric and Mike not far off thanks to their great finishes while Tony sat in 6th for the 45+ group. Circuit - It looked like it was a tough race for the masters field to round out the day.  The overall condenders ended up in the top 5, Todd came in 17th at the end of a difficult day.  He was just 2 points shy of holding off Igor for the final overall podium spot.  Eric Anderson, Duane Fossyl, and Mike Burns finished together in 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively earning Eric and Mike 5th and 6th overall.  Tony Hergert crossed the line 6th of the 45+ crowd.  His consistent finishes put him in 5th overall.