Coal City Crit #5

A hot Tuesday evening following a long weekend.  I wasn't really expecting much of a turnout.  I was pleasantly surprised when we had 16 riders show up to race.  The bunch was made up of mostly our core racers.  Everyone knew everyone else and that made this one of the most interesting and exciting races to watch so far.

The race was set at 35 laps with one prime and after two neutral laps to help ease Brodie back into racing the pace picked up sharply.  On Lap 5 Lee who was out with a plan for a solid workout went off the front.  Normally not a threat most of the time a move like this would have been ignored, but not everyone knew Lees plan so a couple of riders went with him and a small break formed which was quickly pulled back in.

On Lap ten the bell was rung for the Prime.  It was good timing for James who appeared to be standing up to attack just as I raised the horn.  He easily took the sprint then carried on his attack continuing to pull away from the pack for another lap before Vinko, Kevin and Laz managed to bridge the gap and catch him.  The rest of the pack wasn't in the mood to let a breakaway happen and the four were back in the bunch with in another lap.

Several more attempts to break away were made over the next 15 laps with all being caught in short order.  Everything seemed to settle down around lap 28 with riders planning to set themselves up for the final sprint.  The decisive move came with three laps to go when Eric Rush attacked building a 13 second lead with two to go and extending his lead to 15 seconds before the last lap.  The pack chased hard but were unable to close the distance giving Eric his first win of the night.

I can't say it enough but huge thanks to our volunteers who came out to stand on the corners and keep the course clear for our riders. Graham, Peter, Autumn, Erin and Lesley have all been entered into the draw for some sweet prizing sourced out with the help of our sponsors Coal City, Rock City and Arrowsmith.

Don't forget to shoulder check when attacking.  No point in burning all your matches if the pack is only half a wheel behind.