Gainesville Race Day

The University of Florida's cycling team, Team Florida, held their annual race weekend this past Saturday and Sunday here in sunny Gainesville Florida.

With the help of various spectators, we've assembled some pictures to better illustrate the goings on of the weekend.

Cat 5's
Many of our friends from the Gainesville Cycling Club (GCC) showed up to show support for their friends and family. Rodrigo (far left), who raced the Cat. 5 race was there along with his wife Gaby (left).

The Cat. 5 race went well for our two GCC entrants, Rodrigo and Scott. Rodrigo finished 13th on the day, but avenged his DNF from the same race last year. Scott posted his best result of the season finally breaking the top 5. Both guys are riding strongly and should be upgrading before we know it. (side note: Earlier in the day Scott's son, Justin placed 4th in his Juniors race see previous post about Justin)


We've highlighted Scott and Rodrigo coming through the 1st corner.

Cat 4's
Danny had mentioned to me the night before the race that he'd like to try for a prime in order to "open his legs up". Then he said that he would sit in a bit to recover from the effort and hopefully be able to put in a good sprint in the end. Well, that's exactly what he did. He won a prime and then put in such a good sprint in the end that he won the race too.

Things were fast right from the start. The dip in the middle of the course kept us fast on the downhills and sprinting on the uphills. Breaks were attempted on the lead up to the S/F line, but nothing really came close to getting away. Although the cobbles and tight corners created opportunities for disaster, we all managed to keep the rubber side down (until the finish, more on that later).

With only a few laps to go, I knew I had to force myself up towards the front if I wanted any chance of: (1) staying out of trouble, and (2) Getting across the line with a respectable placing. I worked around the outside in the corners to sit in the top 12 or so. Shortly after, Danny made me aware of his presence on my wheel.

I like to think that I worked hard to keep Danny in the front all the way to the last corner (he probably could've done that on his own though). Coming out of the corner, I went wide and I saw Danny launch himself up to the lead. There were plenty of guys with enough legs to put in good sprints, so my sprinting efforts did little more than kept me in the top 20 (I finished 16th). Danny obviously went on to get the win, but I couldn't see him as I was distracted watching Big Phil hitting the deck just off my right shoulder.

CRASH!
I knew that Phil would end up with some pretty good road rash as well as a scuffed up Giro Atmos at the very least. What I didn't know was the affect that his crash would have on our friend and GCC riding companion "Naked Ed" (who was standing on the sidelines watching the festivities).
When Phil (Team Florida) went down in front of Nate (Chain Reaction) (pictured at the left: Phil on the front, Nate sitting 2nd wheel), Nate was forced off the course and barreled into Ed, knocking him unconscious.

Big Phil was okay, aside from the obligatory road rash and need for a new Atmos. Nate had minor cuts and scratches and Naked Ed was taken to the E.R. in the back of an ambulance after drifting in and out of consciousness.

5count is happy to report that Ed is just fine. The paramedic just wanted to run some tests and make sure he was able to enjoy his passion for "full-contact bike race viewing". It'll take more than a cyclist running him over at 30+ mph to keep Ed out of commission.

Most aggressive award goes to...
Jayson O'Mahoney made more than one suicidal attack in the Cat 3 race on Sunday. His finish wasn't indicative of how much heart he rode with, but those who were there saw the Australian sensation make attempt after attempt at getting away, no matter how futile it really was.

All in all...
It was a good weekend at the races. Beautiful weather, good finishes and a great group of local support.


In an unrelated topic...
Some pictures of Joe Brew came into my possession recently. I put them together in somewhat of on homage to Lil Joe Brew in his native environment (collegiate middle distance track).