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| Spangle back at it again with the race pics! oooo the start line artistry |
With the success of memorial weekend still fresh on everyone’s
minds, we were ready to head up to Oklahoma for some crit racing. Unlike the
races we have been doing all season, the OKC PRO AM was part of the PRT
calendar (or the first day was) and was bringing in a higher caliber field.
Although many of the team names were familiar, there was an added twist with several
pairs of new and old faces toeing up to the start lines.
After a pretty quick drive up from Houston with Corey Meeks
of Shama Cycles, I was greeted by blue sky and my teammates… Although the sky
has always been blue, the recent rain in Houston would make you think otherwise.
As the sun started to set, the whole OKC squad found each other
and we were warming up in the center of the course. GIANT Racing for OKC
included: Beau E, Bret C, Scott V, Matt G, and myself. As we were warming up I
took note of the uphill and the downhill section of the course. When I was told
there was a hill out there, I did not expect there to be a climb from turn 2 to
turn 3. It was not the little bump in the road that I thought it was going to
be, this bump would make a difference in how the race was going to unfold. I
was more excited about the hill than most of the racers who were there.
The race started off fast as any PRT field does and I
quickly found my rhythm near the front of the pack. I knew the two teams that
would be constantly sending guys up the road would include Elbowz and Arapaho.
Sure enough the attacks came quick and almost at a steady rate. I found myself
able to stay close and comfortably near the front. Despite being in a car all
day, and not able to get a morning spin in, the legs were responding well to
the jumps. As the laps ticked down I could see more and more small groups were
getting off the front, and then slowly being brought back into the fold. There
were a few times that I followed the wheels from the attacks of others and
found myself off the front. But despite how big of a gap anyone got, the field
was quickly able to bring anything back.
As we got into 5 laps to go, I knew the free laps were up
and that we were entering the dangerous part of the races. I kept an eye on
anyone trying to get around me, and would use the hills on course to help hold
my position from other riders. As the laps started to countdown and small group
of riders were able to get a gap and were riding away for the win. I did what I
could to stay near the front, sadly I knew that any chance of a win evaporated
with the late race move riding away.
The final lap started
and I was where I wanted to be, I was sitting probably 3rd wheel in the line
and the speed was fast. As we got through turn 1 my fear of the field slowing
down started to come true and I started to sense that the jump was going to
happen. I choked up on the bars a little and saw that there were riding
starting to pass me on the right side. I accelerated to get on their wheels,
and was surprised I accelerated a little too hard and found myself first wheel
going into turn 2. At this moment I knew I had only one thing to do, and start
the sprint early. If I tried to fade back on the hill, I would be swarmed too
bad and might not able to come back around to get the result. I kicked hard at
the base of the hill and started to accelerate. Part of me was hoping that one
or two riders would pass me by the crest so I could jump on their wheels to
then get a result. However, I was stuck on the front leading it out up the
hill. I made the turn the right hand turn in utter darkness at the top and
started the plummet to the final turn and the finish line. It was not till halfway
down that road the sprint opened up and I was passed on the right hand side by
a handful of riders. As we approached the final corner at break neck speeds I
stood up and gave it one last jump to the line.
I would find out afterwards that I would finish 15th
on the day. I was actually surprised I still managed to finish this high up
despite the break staying away as well as starting the sprint with half a lap
to go. Great race and a great venue to open up the OKC PRO AM Criteriums.
Day 2 would be a dead flat figure 8 course
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