RMR Crits

The racing season is now in full swing. Jerald Olsen will be representing the team at the East Canyon Road Race this weekend and we'll have no less than 6 racers at the Antelope Island Classic on May 2nd. Kevan Steed, Todd Anderson and Blake Mason have also been taking part in the weekly crit series out at Rocky Mountain Raceway. Here's Kevan report from last night:

"The race was fast and furious last night.

"They made some modification to the coarse. Only using the top or East half of the ¼ mile track and weaving in and out of the pit area. It was fun and exciting. A and B Flites were extremely fast and I was getting nervous. I arrived early enough to run through the coarse to get comfortable with it, noticing where the hazards are and the good spots to break. Blake and Todd arrived after the As & Bs were racing so they didn’t get to run the coarse, which I feel is a disadvantage.

"We lined up and I would say there were easily 45-50 racers in the C Flite. The first lap was neutral for those who didn’t get practice runs in, then it was off to the races. No one broke away at first, but the tempo increased with every turn. My only advice was to ‘not get dropped’. This coarse strings you out, most of the time in a single pace line. If you lose the wheel in front of you, you’re on your own. Which is what happened with Blake & Todd.

"My goal was to stay with the lead group, and for the most part I stayed top 10-15. When the call rang out with “3 laps to go”, I found myself in a small group of 5 off of the front and my HR at 180. Not knowing how much longer I could hold on, unfortunate or not, a few others were able to join us, which allowed me to slip in behind and recover. Just before that, I was sad to see that we were coming up on a familiar jersey, and ended up lapping Todd. With words of encouragement to my teammate, I desperately struggled to hang on to this lead group. As we entered the straightaway towards the finish line and having counted how many were in front, sprinting my guts out and making sure no one was going to pass me in a spread out finish, I found myself taking 10th place.

"Realizing afterwards how strung out the race was and 3 or 4 groups that were created and actually lapping others, I feel pretty good that I stayed in the 1st group and actually had a top 10 finish. For the first timers (Blake & Todd) not counting the oval, which I feel is a completely different race, I think they did great and most importantly learned a lot. They are anxious to do it again."

Thanks Kevan! And good luck next week!