Jeff Needham, Albany Crit

Just a quick report on the Crit today. The 45 race was quite fast. JS and I rode a strong race, but in the end.....no bananas. Way to hang John. The 35+ race was FAST! Most trips up the "hill" were 28mph. So, unless you could ramp it up to 30+ up that hill, it was next to impossible to move up. All the DBC guys rode a competitive race. Stefan kept himself close to the front and out of trouble for most of the race. With 3 or 4 to go, there was a crash that help up Chad and Eric. With one to go, I had intentions of getting Stefan up the hill and toward the front for the sprint. The wind was a crossing headwind from the right, so I was sure the leadout would gutter the field on the left side of the rode. We made the second turn and stated jamming up the right side...only to have the field move completely right and shut us down. With only two turns to go and too far back now to really matter, I eased up (and almost stacked
Stefan) . Sorry about that one bud. All in all, the day was a success. Everyone (at least to my knowledge) went home with all their skin and their bones...and bikes intact. Strong racing masters.
jn