Team Excelerator was well represented at the East Canyon Road Race this past weekend. Casey Marker stood on the podium in 3rd place for the Cat 5 class! Here's how the race went down for our Cat 5 racers:
After a frantic earlier than posted start, Ben Towery, Casey Marker, Russ Perry and Kevin Steed took off in sunny, cool conditions. The pack stayed close with a moderate speed until the first, tough climb of the day. Russ and Kevin powered up the climb. Ben showed some of his climbing weakness and got dropped like a bad habit. Casey, meanwhile, dropped his chain during a shift. He frantically fixed his chain and motored up the hill and re-joined the main group.
Almost half way through the race, Russ ran into trouble with a flat. Ben was back a bit and was able to help pull Russ back into contention. In the meantime, the class broke up into different groups. Casey held on in the lead group. Kevin kept the chase group going through the flats while Russ solo'ed up towards the front. Unfortunately, Ben's legs were filled with lactate acid and was in "I'm here to finish" mode.
The climb to the finish was brutal. The lead group deteriorated but Casey was part of the breakaway finishers, eventually sprinting to third place. Russ put in a courageous after flat 15th. Kevin and Ben held on to finish, way out of the money, but finishing strong.
We also had a TE member race Cat 4. Joel Rackem rides in another club's colors, but he's a training partner ans supporter of TE.
Joel's class had some excitement with a big crash and lots of broken carbon. Joel was not involved, but nobody likes being close to a wreck. Joel Rode strong and finished with the lead group. Good job to all!
Next up is the BDO Crits in Ogden on May 3rd. Look for Casey Marker to prove his podium finish was no fluke and Ben Towery to redeem himself. Russ Perry will want to put his flat tire behind him and we have many other TE racers who will be racing with the best of the pack.
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