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Friday, February 29, 2008
Greenville Training Series; Testing the Legs
Greenville Masters 35+
The 4 C's - Chad, Chaz, Chris, Comer lined up with close to 100 starters. Pace was high from the gun as many guys were there to test out their winter training. The wind was blowing relatively hard (10-15mph) all day and we had strong cross winds leading to plenty of "gutter" riding.
Darren was aggressive early and went in a break of 4 on the first lap. The break companions were not really working well or building a substantial gap. Chad sensed there may be potential with more numbers and drove a group over to Darren with about 6 more guys.
The peleton were having none of that and they were all soon absorbed.
Not long after Darren made another solo attack and established a gap. Hoping to have a few strong guys come over the only one willing was the infamous "Chisel" from the AXA team. Darren shortly realized the horsepower was not there and he rode away on a climb riding tempo. He then decide not to completely fry alone in the wind and he sat up for the group.
Chad again felt a lull and began aggressive moves sliding off the front but he was never given any rope to get away.
With one lap to go Chris came to the front fresh and ready to help chase a break of 3 that had escaped. Darren, Chad and Chris worked hard chasing to set up Charles for the sprint. With about 3 miles to go Charles sensibly jumped onto a small group trying to bridge over to the break and the Pacesetter boys began riding tempo and marking the front of the bunch.
The gap stayed consistent until about 1k to go and then the attacks started. When the final sprint ramped up Charles was absorbed at the line but held on to 12'th position with Chad sprinted in for 10'th.
PRO 1/2
We added Matt to the mix and he was fresh.
100+ racers lined up for the pro ½ race including large teams like DLP, Lee's McCray College, TIME Development team. The first lap of the road race was like a crit – single file and fast.
Matt was really aggressive and tried valiantly to initiate and get into a break that stuck. Unfortunately after one more of his attacks the real break went and he was too gassed to go with it.
The remaining teams kept the race fast despite the wind and it took its toll on the field which lost over 50% of the starters. Many riders were not yet fit enough to hold wheels and they were opening up gaps all over the shop. After closing up one to many gaps and fighting the cross winds Charles, Darren and Chris had to let the bunch ride away.
Chad and Matt stayed strong and fought hard to stay in the bunch and finish out the day for some great training in the legs.
The weekend has set the boys up nicely for the first Georgia Cup in Albany this weekend.
Christian Leask
9:55 AM |
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