The 2009 racing season finally got underway here in central Indiana on 4/18 at the Ceraland Classic in Columbus, IN - a nice little 70 minute circuit race held on a 1.4 mile rolling loop in Ceraland Park. Our CAT 3 race pretty much went as expected - numerous attacks from riders hoping to initate a small break, but nothing more sucessfully than a couple of guys dangling off the front for a few laps with a gap of less than ten seconds. Things got dicey halfway through the race when a mid-pack wreck sent a number of riders to the asphalt - Romain, who was smack dab in the middle of the rucus, somehow managed to stay upright, despite the fact that his rear break caliber got sheared in half. Yancey took a nice detour through the grass and luckily avoided the carnage. Race ended in a mass pack sprint up the gradual climb to the finish line, with Slattery storming into the top 10 with a 6th place finish. Romain, Yancey, and Reed all finished safetly in the pack.
Russell and Yancey decided to get in little extra racing, and jumped into the 1/2/3 race later in the afternoon. Russ bowed out around the 45 minute mark to make sure he was not late to his daughters birthday party (what a family man!), and Yancey held on for 1 hour until the legs finally gave out. 60 miles of crit racing will do that to you.
Thanks to John Bennett for the photos!
It's 'go' time...
Slattery getting aero.
Yancey displaying pain.
Romain rockin' the half zip.
