Road trip weekend -- putting miles on the car (and bike)

I'm finally sitting down on my couch back on Franklin Street after leaving home at 8 yesterday, driving 6 hours (should have been 5 -- thanks a lot, Princeton) to Wilmington, Delaware for the Bank of America Wilmington Grand Prix.

I've driven pretty far to race my bike, but this road trip is, without a doubt, the longest I've yet undertaken. Considering that I was pulled from the 2/3 race about halfway through, I'm not quite sure it was worth the 660-odd miles I put on my car.

But, Wilmington is a real-deal bike race, and it's important for any team that wants to get noticed to attend such events. So, of course, Champion Systems was racing -- we ain't no slouches! On the up side of me riding poorly and getting dropped, I had the pleasure of watching teammate Sean Smith win the race. Sean, who started racing this season as a Cat 5, has been on a tear, of late.

After hiding in the disintegrating peloton so completely that I was convinced he'd been dropped, Sean attacked with a little more than a lap left, and stuck his solo move to the line, leaving the rest of the peloton wondering where he'd come from.

Nice moves, Sean!

Behind, Tom, Sergio, and Roberto all rode well to finish in the top-end of the field.

We were also represented in the pro/1 race, which was powered by a fair number of NRC teams (this being an NRC crit). Igor led the charge, surviving the rain-induced carnage to finish in the mid-30s, just out of the money. I was glad it stopped raining before my race...

After waffling on my plans for the weekend, I got closed out of today's Kelly Cup/Bike Jam -- which I think is just as well, since racing in Baltimore would only have led to more time in the car. Instead, I drove to Brooklyn last night, where I had dinner with Brett, broke, then fixed, his bike, did some laundry, slept a little, and then raced the Kings County Kermesse at Floyd Bennett Field this morning.

After a string of disappointing results of late (capped off with Saturday's implosion in Wilmington), I was really hoping to pull off a decent race on Sunday. The Kermesse was a 123 handicap race, where the 3s started with a 2:30 head start on the 1s and 2s. We were all racing for the same pot, so we had our work cut out for us from the gun.

I haven't raced Floyd since 2007, when I last participated in the Tuesday night series held there, so I was fairly excited about getting back to the airfield, crappy pavement, R/C airplanes, helicopters, coastal winds and all. Floyd did not disappoint. After motoring along for the first few laps, taking only a handful of seconds each lap out of the 3s, the gap started to come down quickly on the third lap, and after six or seven laps, the race back together -- or, mostly, anyway.

A flurry of attacks came right as the race came back together, and although I was feeling a lot better, and able to participate in the attacks, feints, and counters, I put my money in the wrong move, and then missed the right move. So it goes. After cruising around in the peloton for a while, I latched onto a bridge attempt by Scott Demel, a friend and former teammate. One other rider joined us, and we quickly left the remaining peloton behind.

Scott didn't last long, but the other guy and I rode efficiently to catch two others in no-man's-land, and began reeling in the next group up the road. After five laps of hard work, we caught them with just under a k left in the race. I was pretty much toast at that point, and with a further five up the road, getting in the money was going to be tough.

In the end, I rolled across in about 11th or 12th, happy that I didn't get dropped, and that I was able to drag my ass back into the end game. It was a much-needed confidence boost. Congrats to Brian Breech who finished second, but was awarded the win due to some questionable riding in the sprint.

Afterwards, I had a chance to catch up a little with the Brooklyn crew, which is always a good thing. Nice to see everyone!

This weekend also saw my new Champion System Bike finally assembled. I'm still getting the fit dialed, but it is a sweet ride! Look for photos a "review" in the next few days.