Gateway Cup - Giro Della Montagna

Day 3 of the Gateway Cup took us to 'The Hill', St. Louis' Italian District. This was the 25th Anniversary of the Giro Della Montagna, a 4 corner rectangle shaped crit with one long gradual uphill and one long gradual downhill along the main straightaway. The beer was flowing, and the Italian salisiccia sausages were flying off the grill in the parking lot of St. Ambrose Catholic Church, which sat directly next to the Start/Finish Line. Nothing quite like racing full gas while inhaling pork flavored smoke. Mygrant and Romain had to pack up and head back to Indy after Saturday's race, leaving Yancey alone to duke it out. Unfortunately, no spectacular tales of glory, just another day of hard, fast racing. Yancey took home 66th out of 108.

Gateway Cup - Tour De Hills

'Tour de Hills' might conjure up images of hard steep hills, but round two of the Gateway Cup, held in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood, was a relatively flat, wide four corner course that wrapped around scenic Francis Park. The course itself was lined with red-brick bungalows, and I think there was a large church on nearly every corner.

Mygrant, Yancey, and Romain were once again out representing the black, red, and white of STV.

110+ CAT 3's lining up to race

Racing was aggressive as usual. With about 30 minutes left in the race, I managed to get a ball of saran wrap wrapped around one of my front spokes coming through the second turn (had to have come from the large backyard BBQ that was taking place just past the turn). Luckily, all it ended up doing was cause a loud irritating noise every time the wheel spun (which was happening a couple times a second). I'm sure it killed any aero advantage I might have previously enjoyed :-)

Romain fell victim to a last lap crash in turn three (see pic's below). According to his computer, he smashed into the curb doing 39 mph. Jason manged to escape with hardly a scrape, but his frame was cracked, and the beloved carbon Cormia wheels took a beating.
Myself and Jason practically duplicated our results form the previous night. Mygrant ended up 20th, an I was 67th.

Romain on the front

Jason Mygrant

Yancey

Romain smashing into the curb...

...Romain down! At least he is not the guy doing an upside down face plant.

Photos courtesy of http://www.timbrumitt.com/ & http://www.ficksphoto.com

Gateway Cup - Lafayette Square

St. Louis, MO is THE place to be for Labor Day Weekend bike racing here in the Midwest. This year, over 700 racers took to the starting line at the Gateway Cup, and four day criterium race series that highlights four of St. Louis' most historic neighborhoods. Friday night's action kicked under the light at Lafayette Square. Yancey, Romain, and Mygrant joined 110+ other CAT 3's to duke it out for some twilight glory.

Not to be confused with Indianapolis west side shopping mall, St. Louis Lafayette Square consists of historic Victorian homes, restaurants, and bars that surround Lafayette Park, located in the shadows of downtown St. Louis. Our race started at 7:3opm (CST), and 20 min in the course was completely dark, except for the huge spotlights erected in the four corners, soft-light street lamps on the straightaways, and the glow emitting from house parties all along the course. Despite huge fields, fast, aggressive racing (this race always seems to be the fastest race I do each year) and darkness, I only saw one wreck, which happened on turn three of the last lap. Luckily, the STV crew avoided all carnage. After an hour if intense racing, Jason Mygrant was our top finisher with a strong 18th place finish (just three spots out of the money). Romain and Yancey both finished mid-pack, in 45th and 65th ,respectively. It's not often you can finish 65th, and be considered mid-pack!

Below is a 11 min video from our race, recorded via a helmet cam worn by another racer. Romain makes appearances at the 3:40 and 9:38 mark. Video gives you a decent feel for what is what like racing in the dark.