7/17/06

Druid City Crit (Tuscaloosa, Alab.)

Jeff Ingle and I both raced this really flat crit as 4's. The course was also non-technical with only one corner that was of note due to the narrowness... For those in the know, it was around the quad at Univ of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Anyway, I tried to inject some spirit / get up the road about 10 minutes in. After getting a slight lead, they rang the prime bell, so I stepped it up a notch hearing something about $30....stayed away until nearly back to the start-finish, but then they sat up, so I jumped again to score the prime. Apparently, it was a mechandise prime *worth* $30.... Oh well, got a good pair of Pearl Iz riding gloves out of it.

So now, we were all together. A bit later, a group of 4 got up the road and that ended up sticking. Damn! I tried to jump up to them several times, but was always chased down / then shut down. Jeff and I witnessed a crazy stupid wreck on a wide straightaway when two guys tangled up handlebars (not sure what happened there). On the last lap, I felt spry, so I jumped two turns back stringing out the field. The caught me before the finish and I had to settle for 8th of the bunch (12th overall). Jeff roared past to score a 7th overall. This race had a sweet payout for the 4's...his 7th was good for $50! ($600/8deep). Have to remember this one....

I decided to pack it in and drive back to Memphis (not racing at Homewood). All in all, it was good race to end my first half of the season.