Spirits were high going into the Friday evening’s Brookfield Criterium. We took a lot of heart from the previous nights’ race. Although it was tough, now had a belief we were capable to getting a result. The atmosphere was on the night was special. I normally laugh at the over zealous, ill-guided American patriotism but tonight was different. As the local singer inspired the on-looking crowd by bellowing out her best rendition of the star spangled banner I couldn’t but notice the goose bumps on my arms. It was an atmosphere I hadn’t experienced at a bike race and I loved it. As the national anthem echoed in the background I had a moment to take cognisance of the surrounding and I now knew why Superweek was special. It wasn’t just the racing, it was the entire package: the celebrity announcer (Italian villain from cult classic ‘Breaking Away’), the hoarding, the crowds, Miss Milwaukee as starter and yes, the American zeal.
The race itself was a super technical seven corner, one kilometre circuit. The plan was similar to the previous day with Ed on the offensive early. This time it paid off – Ed found himself in a strong move which worked well together. With Ed away life became easy for the rest of us. We jumped with any move that looked dangerous in an attempt to get a free ride across to the break. About midway through the race I followed some wheels that looked dangerous and found myself in a chase group of about ten riders. With a man up the road no one expected, or got, any contribution to the workload from me. Meanwhile Ed’s group had lapped the main field. Sean, the team director, informed me of the situation and asked me to sit up and go back to help secure the win (very pro-tour).
The chase group was the only immediate concern. The plan was simple. Use me and Kevin to contain the chase group and keep Pete fresh to lead Ed out for the sprint. Time seemed to stand still as we made an uncomfortable tempo lap after lap. We were all expecting an attack from one of Ed’s fellow breakaway companions but they seemed content to leave it to be decided in the sprint. That suited us just perfect. Chemstar p/b United Healthcare also had a man in the break and contributed to the pace making. Kevin and myself lasted until just inside the final lap when the Chemstar p/b United Healthcare came over the top of our lead out train with their own. Pete never panicked. He bumped his way onto the back of their train and sat in until the last corner. Then he went for home with Ed in his wheel. He hit the front of the race with 250 meters to go and pulled to the side. Ed put his head down and opened up, nothing but clear road ahead. I was rolling in a few hundred meters back and I heard the announcer screaming, Ed Veal from Jet Fuel. Yes!! We won a Superweek race.
Ed was almost overcome with emotion as the team embraced to the backdrop of Queens’s iconic soundtrack, We are the Champions. We posed for photos with spectators and soaked up the atmosphere. It was a race I am not likely to forget for a long time -an incredible feeling.
The following evening was, ‘The Downer’, the biggest race on the Superweek calendar. The organisers’ anticipated a crowd of 30,000. In all honesty I don’t think the crowd was that big but it was substantial and made all the more impressive when you consider the crowd lined a one kilometre circuit. The race is held on Saturday night and it has a real Saturday night feel about it – spectators are in party mood, drinking and generally being loud. The Downer had all the atmosphere from the previous night, plus some more. It was a unique experience for me and although we all had tired legs from seven races in eight day, you could find that little extra in the legs when the cheers went up. The race itself was non memorable, we attacked and gave it everything we had but ultimately we came up short. A late breakaway contested the win.
As we took the chequered flag to conclude the race, spectators handed us beers. We rode a few laps to sample the crowd and toasted a great weeks racing.
Photos from www.pedalmag.com
results on www.internationalcycling.com
Posts
