Grinding
This was the worst athens I have ever done. The bad news started 3 laps
in when a guy smashed into a pothole and lost control right in front of
me. It was on the downhill and we were going fast but I got it slowed
way down beofre plowing into him. I went over the bars cirque du soliel
style and landed on my feet, I tried to run it out but couldn’t get my
feet going quick enough and did some slide thing. (See the picture,
those were cleats I put on today!) I did the silde and fell lightly on
my hip, no major damage. Once I got my bike in order and to the pit and
watched the field go by with a group of 7 off the front. I got pushed in
way in the back after one of the neutral guys ran into after pushing
another guy in and the next lap ken went down in a nasty one between 3
and 4. Jackson though chad had gotten across but he didn’t and with 5
teams clogging the front the break was long gone before we could make
anything happen. A half dozen crashes and a 5 minute break while they
cleaned guys off the pavement we were at about 4 to go when another big
one happen with guys down al over the place including frank pipp who had
lapped and I figured for the win. When this one went I got it completly
stopped but somone behind me couldn’t and plowed into me. I hit the
floor than got ran over. (See the picture of missing skin caused by
someones chainring)
Winning this race in 2003 then going 3rd while leading brice out for the
win in 2004 are highlights of my racing but after tonight I don’t think
I will be back to Athens if the keep the format of pro 1/2 as it is
now.
-Dan Schmatz
Via Handheld SK3.
April 29th, 2007 at 7:57 am
Athens is only Pro/1 homey. 2’s raced earlier.
April 29th, 2007 at 10:55 am
The guy that that stacked it in front of me 2k into the race told me he was a cat2 when we were waiting in the wheel pit.
April 29th, 2007 at 11:09 am
http://athenstwilight.com/gridqualifiers.php
“The top 10 (minimum) Cat 2 riders qualify for entry to the Pro 1 race. Additional cat 2 riders will be added to the Pro 1 event as space allows.”
April 29th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I was at the race, just watching. It was a sketch fest. I know it’s know for that but people often hitting the fencing? Lots of yelling, a lot of people grabbing hand fulls of brakes for corners…
April 30th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
The race has a separate Cat 2 race, but they are still allowed to race in the Pro/1/2 race if they choose. I am always in favor of Pro/1 races. If a race is truly a national event then they should be able to pull that off. This should especially be true for crits since it is easier to add another category. It’s good for pro’s and good for the cat 2’s also since they rarely have their own event.
Russell @ Herriott Sports