Early Bird Crit - Fremont - first non-race of the year

It really wasn’t supposed to be a race. It was the Early Bird Crit, and it’s a series of four weekend sessions in an industrial park in Fremont, where racers of all ages can run a “practice crit” with mentors riding along providing critique and suggestions on how to ride safely and fast.

So the idea was to finish safely and not get hurt.

Team AC dominated anyway.

Alex put on an incredible display of power, picking up time on the pack each lap (I noted the times on the photos) and finished so far ahead that no one else was in sight when he crossed the finish line.



Spence battled it out with another guy, who nosed ahead at the finish for second, with Spence in third and Skyler in fourth.

Chris, the newest member, did a great job on his first ever crit (nice new Pinarello for Christmas!), and is ready to go for the next race. There was one crash during the race, but it happened just behind Skyler and none of the injuries were serious though several riders were done for the day.

Here are some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200901EarlyBirdCritFremont?feat=directlink

Bob (as you’ll see in the pictures) watched from his wheelchair, the result of one of those “I can totally make it” jumps on his hardtail – about a 6’ drop straight to the flat earth, at “The Berm” in Mill Valley. The landing went fine, but was VERY hard - he thought he’d broken both ankles, but after spending six hours in the ER yesterday, the Xrays seem clear and there is just a massive amount of soft-tissue damage. He’s expected to make a full recovery in a couple of weeks, but right now he cannot bear ANY weight on either of his feet. So we picked up a wheelchair for his mobility during the rest of January.

The weather was pretty incredible today – probably 70-75 degrees, sunny and almost no wind – perfect for crit training, but not representative of typical “winter” weather.

Congratulations to the boys, and it looks like the beginning of what could be a strong season for Team AC Juniors.

Now, Alex will have to pull Spence and Skyler (and Bob when he’s recuperated) and then they should be able to take over the podiums like they did in ‘cross this winter.