Mt. Holly-Smithville Invitational was last weekend and I must say that it was an interesting race. The race attracted over 140 riders in the pro1/2 race which made it very interesting right from the gun. I was unfortunate and got to the start line near the back, so right away I knew this was going to hurt. The first few laps were very fast, the fastest I have raced all season. Single file, strung out, gaps everywhere, the name of the game was get to the front and get there fast because when this breaks apart for good anyone positioned near middle and past will have a really hard time. Well, I never took advantage of the few opportunites I had to move up and when it cracked I got caught in it with Steve B. I think the total mileage I raced for the day was 23 miles, so a pretty short and dumb race. The race was blown apart on the next lap, and every lap after that it was getting smaller.

The course was pretty cool, a long false flat straight away on the front of the course into a quick right turn that went right into a steep short climb. The first lap, I basically came to a stand still as we entered this climb. The fall from the top of the climb was fun, with a series of chicanes and was pretty fast. The feedzone was pretty dumb, it was on the fastest part of the race course, pretty hard to grab a bottle at 30+, although I managed to do it. link to news aricle

The season is winding along and although my year has been pretty below average, the team is rocking! Elite squad has Rich Straub leading the bar and Keith Gerber rocking the bar in 3rd place. A bunch of wins, numerous podiums and a lot of good sponsor reping with a shit load of racing going on. A few key races still left this season and then it is into cyclocross season! Nice. It looks like we are going to have a decent cross team and fun season, check out the sister blog here http://www.cyclocrossracer.blogspot.com