Sponsored By: For sponsorship information: sponsorship@promotioncycling.com

2010-07-21 - Devou Park #2 - Devou Park Rider Category Place Brendan Canty Cat 3/4 20 Brad Leach Cat 3/4 22 Dave Hall Cat 3/4 6 Dave Schuley Cat 3/4 Field Matt Wright Cat 3/4 Field Race Report By - Brendan Canty I drove up to Covington with Brad Leach. On the way up it rained, and when we got to the course, it was still quite wet. We met up with Dave Hall, Matt, and Dave Shuley at the race and spent some time warming up. By the time the race started, the top of the course had started to dry out, however, the lower part was still quite slick. We set off with 30 racers. This week, my goal was to last more laps before I got popped. I was feeling better this week and was riding fairly easily in the top half. Each lap we shed more riders, until I was surprised to look back and realize that I had made the selection of about 10 riders.On the climb on the 5th lap up the climb, I noticed that the wheel I was following was struggling a bit. He was fine on the flat, but starting to hurt on the uphill. I decided, as we were barreling down the descent, that I would carry a little extra speed though the turn, and use that to launch myself further up the line. Turns out that wasn't such a smart decision. I hit the turn, went wide, my rear wheel slipped out, and that was that. Jumped back on the bike, but my desire to kill it was gone. Just road the rest of the race with the intent to finish. Which I did, in 20th. Race Report By - Brad Leach The race started out fast,and it didn’t help any that the streets were mostly wet, especially in the shade. I stuck it out with the main group for ~2 laps, falling back on the second round up the hill. Rode solo for the rest of the race, doing the time trial thing again with hill intervals thrown in for fun. I got lapped by the lead pack halfway through the race, and then was passed by others or passed stragglers the rest of the race. It was hard knowing who was on the lead lap or who had fallen off.No one ever formed a working group, as the hill would separate most riders. Avoided the crashes and held off a Reser Fusion rider on the last climb. Finished 22nd, give or take. Race Report By - Matt Wright Like Brad said, 5 CES guys lined up with 2 of us getting called up for placing last week. It didn't help me as I struggled to get clipped in and fell back to mid pack. frustrated I get on the outside and storm up to the front. get to the 180 with the front few and try to take the turn wider than the field. Out my back wheel goes and I skid out of the way. Luckily no one ran me over and I hopped back on still in the pack. All pumped up on adrenalin for the next two laps I charge to the front again, notice they aren't going as fast as I think they should, so I hit the gas. I didn't really ever look back to see if I was dragging people or was hanging out there a few seconds ahead of people. Anyways about lap 5 I realize that I my rear derailleur isn't shifting like it should. It wouldn't stay in a gear if I was trying to shift on the hill. the rough road wasn't helping and my chain was bouncing around like crazy. A couple more laps of this and i'm starting to get frustrated as i'm not doing anything but sucking wheel on the lead group. they say 5 laps to go and on the next hill it seemed to be getting worse. I pretty much had to stop pedaling to get in into the gear I wanted and when I looked up the pack was already 50ft ahead of me. with no one to work with I sat up and threw in the towel for my top 10 finish. rode around 1 more lap with a chase group but with my hip starting to ache and wanting to throw my bike off a cliff I decided to take my first DNF. So not the best race of my career, but I've fixed my rear derailleur and I'm getting new wheels (ones that aren't bald from trainer usage). I wish they were having another race tonight.... Race Report By - Dave Hall As I rode my bike to the course I knew the race was going to be interesting. It had rained all day and stopped only about 2 hrs before the start. I had 2 concerns, the 180 degree turn and the bottom of the hill turn... both would be wet, tight, and slippery. Met up with Brad, Matt, Brendan, and Dave. Great to have a strong team showing! Called to the line 2nd for last week was a comforting feeling knowing I wouldn't have to fight for position on the first couple turns. At the peak of the 180 turn I see Matt on my outside only to see his wheel slide out and he hit the deck. 2 laps later Matt comes flying straight by me to the front and driving it hard. I knew the adrenaline had to be pumping. He was there for nearly 2 laps but fell back only to not see him again. Nothing major happened for the first half of the race. The field continued to whittle down to around 10 when at the bottom of the hill I hear another rider go down behind me, turned out to be Brendan. Going into the final 4 laps I was expecting some attacks but it never happened as everyone was just following wheels. On the climb with 2 laps to go I threw down an attack and got off without anyone covering. I quickly built a large gap and was off to the races. The gap held for the next 1.5 laps until the final climb. About half way up I was done, just didn't have the gas to continue. The group caught me with about 300m to go. I tried to hold them but just couldn't. Finished 6th. Guess I went 1 lap too early... oh well... better luck next time.