SDSR Final

Final stage was a speedy six-corner crit with generous time bonuses. We had planned to ride aggressively, and Cookie and MarkZen did a nice job of staying up front in the action, but yours truly was tired and had an aching right knee and never saw the front. Thus, it was only fair that some dude snagged a 10-second bonus and knocked me out of the top-10 in g.c. but, strangely enough, gc paid 11 deep so I got a small spot of cash anyway.

[add edit: just saw the official g.c. results on the internet... there was a three-way tie on time between 10th, 11th, and 12th. Natch I got the 12th... must have been a last-stage-placing-tie-breaker rule, and since I coasted in at the back of the pack, I got the boobie prize. If I see the RHVilla guy who should have gotten the $20 I took, I'll give it to him.]

It's funny to me... based on the last two weekends of stage races, I noticed that these young kids in the 2's race fast and aggressively in the crits, but for some reason don't throw down the same kinds of attacks in the road races. Why is that? Because nobody is watching? Lack of confidence in their recovery and/or endurance? Twice yesterday I rolled off the front for a few miles, desperately hoping someone would come across and want to work. No takers either time. What, nobody wants to work with a 45-year-old frail dork who looks like he'd get blown off the road in a 10-mph crosswind? Weak. I'm tired of road races in which 50 guys finish together, same time. Bring on the sufferfests like Copperopolis and Devil's Punchbowl!

Seriously though, the guys that finished at the top of the g.c. and in the stages are damn good bike racers and will not stay as lowly 2's much longer. Here's Justin Williams showing a clean pair of wheels to win today's crit. Also nice to see the yellow jersey battling for the crit win, not just sitting back satisfied with the g.c. (He had it wrapped up by this point.)



So here's the final SDSR Cat 2 podium. Congrats. (Note: all three of them are under 25 years old! A good sign for bike racing's future.)







Other races...

Third time's a charm for Lindsay. He won the 45+, holding the g.c. lead from day one. The past two years, he had the jersey going into the final crit but lost it. Last year, Roger Worthington barely beat him with time bonuses; the year before KK got away and put in enough time to win it.

Congratulations Lindsay! Final podium at right with KK, Lindsay, and Larry Shannon.

Finally, Jason Hannon finished a strong 4th in the Cat 4s, despite having no teammates in the race.