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Our first race of the year turned out to be quite a debacle. We lost Jimmy before we even left Salt Lake, due to complications with his dog. The next morning during the tt; Ed broke his chain. Despite the odds Ben managed to put together a blistering time to take 2nd place (5th on the day). Later that day we partook in one of the strangest and sketchiest crits ever. There was a nasty crash that happened right in front of me, which resulted in two ambulances taking riders to the hospital. While medical and organizers were tending to the injured racers and cleaning up the mess we did 22 min. of neutral laps. After the situation was under control and we were significantly cold we were given 2 laps to finish. At the end of the day Ben remained 2nd on G.C. and I had moved up to 10th.
The next day brought on the RR. Within the first mile after rollout Ed was involved in a crash that totaled his brand new bike. There was an unexpected construction plate in the road, which was covered with sand. Another racer attempted to bunny hop the plate (stupid) and upon landing washed out taking Ed down in the process. Scott proceeded to flat later and my lack of endurance due to surgery caught up with me and I was shelled off the front group. Ben hung in the pack and decided to attempt to bridge up to the breakaway after the turnaround. Although he was close, ultimately he didn't manage to bridge the gap, . The breakaway succeeded in the end and Ben slipped from 2nd to 9th on G.C.
I think we all learned some valuable lessons from the experience and we will grow from it. Regardless of our size we worked better together as a team more effectively than much larger teams. Onward and upward.
