Carefast | Storck Race Results from Utah Feb. 6th
Desert Crit Series – St. George Airport Course (Modified)
Cat 3/4
Race report by Tony Rago
Desert Crit Series Airport – Cat 3/4
Danny, Shannon, Yash, Zac and I lined up for this one with a field of 25. Cicada, Rapid City, Canyon and Mandalay were all there.
This was the airport course and it was modified with a chicane after the first corner and then a hairpin right before the final corner into a short sprint.
There were plenty of attacks but due to the longer course and a little headwind on the backside, nothing was really sticking. Yash was up front and covering any and all attempts like a champ!
With about 20mins to go a Cicada rider went for a prime and I covered him which created a decent gap. I told him to go, we had a gap so let’s build on it. He said he was gassed and needed to recover. I told him to take my wheel. When he said he was good, he did a small pull and then he was gone. I now had enough a gap to build on and although it was early I committed. I believe this was with 8 to go – lap cards were not out yet.
I was getting time splits from Will at Rapid City and at the peak I had 27 secs on the field. When I looked back I could see the boys covering anything that made an attempt to come after me.
Last lap I had a 19 sec gap and I held on to finish 1st followed by Zac in 2nd and Danny in 3rd. A Carefast Podium Sweep!
Thanks to Danny, Shannon, Yash and Zac for executing a perfect race and big thanks to coach Elliot for putting me through the paces!
Looking forward to the next one boys!
Pro123
Race Report by Danny Pearce
Desert Crit Series – St George Airport Course
Pro 123
Zac, Terry, Tony, Kevin, and I lined up with about 25 others. The familiar faces of the Allegiant, Cicada, and Canyon Cycles showed.
Rapid City changed up the usual oval course. They added a double chicane on the back side of the course, coming into the finish line. It made a rounded “M”, with a 8-10 second sprint coming out of the last turn. We knew that we wanted to be first entering the last chicane as there wasn’t much opportunity move through it.
As expected, the other teams were motivated to get in a break. They each took turns trying, but all of us were on break duty today and reeled them back one after another. We rode smart, letting 1 rider go, but following the bridge attempts.
A couple times we found ourselves in breaks, with 20 second gaps as we followed wheels. The break I was in became discouraged when I wouldn’t put my nose in the wind. Mission accomplished. Zac got into promising break of 6. It had all the teams represented. Allegiant didn’t like the make-up of it and brought it back. Tony threw out a solid counter punch with 3 to go, making the other teams react. The attempts continued till the last lap. Starting up the back stretch a rider tried to go on a flier, but Tyrel and I followed. About half way up the long backstretch, he realized he didn’t have it when he looked to his right and there was a surging Carefast train lead out by Zac, with Terry on his wheel. It was a glorious sight.
Tyrel jumped on Terry’s wheel and I followed. Terry jumped before the chicane, making Tyrel put in a big dig to make up ground. Coming out of the last turn it was a drag race.
Carefast 1 & 2! Terry edged out Tyrel by a thousandth of a second. Solid effort from everyone in Plaid. Smart riding and great times.
Another solid weekend in the books for The Plaid Army!
See you in AZ for the Valley of the Sun Stage Race.
