B Race ( Cat 3 )
The 20th edition of the Cycle-Smart International was again a big event. CCR had riders in the B Race both days. The B race was a zoo each day, with 150 riders signed up for both days.
Saturday
Hunter was hoping for a spot in the top 3 rows but without any Verge Series points, had to settle for row 5 on Saturday. Joe K was also there but had his race number taken by someone else at registration. Joe had to wait for a while to get a replacement number and sure enough it put him in the dead last row. His original seeding was for somewhere in row 7 or 8. Joe pushed up and took his place up in row 8 anyway. 10 seconds after the start there was a high speed crash right in front of Hunter, taking him out and getting his bike tangled up with another. By the time he got clear, he was sitting in 100th place with bent handlebars. Joe rolled safely by the crash. There was a steep, narrow run up placed intelligently 30 seconds into the race. By the time our guys got there it was pretty much a parking lot due to the bottleneck. Joe had a little quicker time getting up it while Hunter used the pause to straighten out his bars. Once clear of that mess, both started picking off riders quickly. Hunter made up ground quickly and didn't get passed by anyone else for the whole race. The only one to pass Joe, ironically, was Hunter. Hunter took a digger in a bumpy corner with a couple of laps to go, slowing his progress a bit. He ended in 33rd place and Joe was 43rd. Sunday
Larry and Hunter lined up for day 2. Staging position was even worse this day for Hunter, getting put someplace in row 6. Larry was a couple of rows behind that. This time there was no crashes. The run up was a little farther into the lap this day but it was still a slow, crowded mess for Hunter, pretty much erasing any hope of getting into the top 10. After that, he rode the run up every time and was quickly jumping up places. He settled into a group of 3 that was fighting for 11 place. After dropping one guy the last time thru the sand pit Hunter had some cramps for the sprint and settled for 13th. Larry rode a solid race and finished as strong as he has yet to this year... His reward: 56th fricken place! Jeezzoo it was mess out there, but the its hard to not have fun with so many fans and friends at the race.The crowds will thin out a bit now. With the time change today and the cold weather coming more then a few guys will close up shop for the racing season. Next up for the CCR crew is a probable stop at the Tobacco Valley Series on Saturday. The real focus though is preparations for Cheshire Cross, which is getting here quickly and less then 2 weeks away.
No comments:
Post a Comment