Nutmeg Games and Keith Berger, June 10, Jim Burke
Stage 1: Nutmeg Games – 35+ – 20 Laps
Goal here was to get my racing legs back after not racing since May 20th (Wells Ave doesn’t count)
Rode conservatively & tried to stay out of the way of Mike Norton & his cronies. Some extremely poor bike handling which was to get worse in later races. Caught some good wheels & finished in 8th without a strong sprint.
Stage 2: Nutmeg Games – 3’s – 25 Laps
One of the worst races I’ve been in in a long time. Not sure what the overall issue is with bike handling, but this was some of the worst I’ve seen. Dave Chiu was taken out late in the race trashing his helmet, seat & HED rear wheel. Baled out of this field sprint & ended up 41st & kept all my skin.
Adam Branfman – 18th
Scott Brooks – 29th
Jim Burke – 41st
Stage 3: Nutmeg Games – P123 – 35 Laps (did 20)
My goal here after 45 laps down, was to hang on as long as possible. The P123 field as far as technique was night and day from the previous race. Being able to ride at a consistent speed around this course with nobody doing anything stupid was a joy until 15 to go when my legs said “that’s enough, we’re done” & I DNF’d, I figured 65 laps was enough & I’d dry to recover for the next day. Adam had an impressive 12th place (report to follow?)
Adam Branfman – 12th
Scott Brooks – 25th
David Chiu – ?? – We’re waiting for his review of the new SRAM road group…
Congrats also to graduates of the Intro to Racing Clinic including Keith Reynolds, Bernard Tan, Catherine Womack, Kathy Martin, & Karin Turer for all jumping into the wonderful world of Criteriums. (Race reports to follow)
Stage 4: Keith Berger Memorial Criterium – Cat 3 – 20 laps
Everyone had seemed to relax a bit after the fiasco the day before, much better riding & we had fielded the largest 3 team in years with myself, Adam Branfman, Scott Brooks, David Chiu, Anthony Leskaris, & Kevin Hetherington-Young. I’ll let Kevin take this one – as he ended up 6th. We did put 4 in the top 20.
Kevin Hetherington-Young – 6th
Adam Branfman – 12th
Jim Burke – 16th
Scott Brooks – 17th?
David Chiu – 34th
Anthony Laskaris – 45th
Stage 5: Keith Berger Memorial Criterium – 35+ – 20 laps
My final stage, the goal here was to relax & finish off the race, I sat mid pack most of the race with Kevin & Anthony consistently mixing it up a the front. Slowly moved my way up inside of 3 to go & caught an awesome lead-out train from the Galaxy Team & finally felt like I had a sprint. (go figure after 105 laps) – finished 5th with Kevin just behind in 14th & Anthony (camera missed his number).
So there you go, a full weekend…I know, I know, I should have sucked it up & done the P1,2,3 on Sunday, but I did have to return home at some point.
Look for more race reports from the P123 & 30+’s