Author

Calvin Smythe on Apr 7, 2008

Race name: Burnham Super Criterium Race date: Monday, Apr 7, 2008

So I've had a great start to my season. Yesterday was no exception. I was very excited to hear that the 4/5 field was maxed at 75 riders...until we started rolling. Morrisey already talked about nerves so I'll spare you the drama.

I won't spare you this: XXX road as a team in the 4/5s. Strittmatter and Morrisey were always at the front, and I had no qualms after winning the prime to sit in the pack and rest not worrying about a break happening up front that didn't have black and white as part of it. 3 laps to go, every one was up front, the lead on 2 to go, Stritmatter, Morrissey, and Newt were drilling the pace, stringing things out and keeping things safe. John's breaks were heroic, unfortunately blocking was near impossible with how wide the road was along with the Cat 4/5 mentality of "I wanna drag the pack around"-ness. The final lap was sketchy, but whatever. We finished superbly, even though we didn't get the win. Every XXXer finished with a smile, that I saw. Super guys, just super.

We had a great plan for the 3/4 race: race for J.T. I can't really talk much about racing for this race because my head wasn't in the race. Fatigue, nerves, whatever, I lost focus half way through the race, was blown/drifted into a rider, slowly and embarrassingly going down. Starring up at the sky from the tarmac as the pack left me behind I thought, "how stupid of me." The good things from the crash: no one else paid for my stupid mistake and I was able to finish the race. Next race is tentatively Whitnall Park, and I'm sure xXx should be looking to better a 2nd, 5th, 7th, 10th outcome to the race. Here's to the team.