Tri-State Velo

Very early Saturday morning Chris Wilson and I lined up for the Mengoni Grand Prix. This race is a New York classic. It does 7 quick laps around Central Park, starting at 6AM. This year's field was especially stacked given that the Chris Thater Memorial was the day after and just a short drive away. Lining up for the race were pro teams from Navigators, Colavita, and Jittery Joe's, not to mention the usual NYC CRC teams who all take this race very seriously.

We did the first lap in total darkness. Chris went with many attacks, but most were absorbed in a matter of minutes. The race proved to be more nerve-wracking than physically draining. Some large potholes caused some drama on the lower part of the course. I found myself dodging holes, dropped waterbottles and downed riders. The whole thing felt more like a roller coaster than a race. On the last lap two big crashes caused some big splits in the field. In the second crash I saw a rider roll a tubular and skid to a stop on a carbon. The sight and smell were not pretty. I rolled in at the back of the lead group but Chris sprinted to a very credible 16th, in the money and in the midst of some very good riders.

All in all it was an experience...and since we started at 6AM we still had the whole day to wander NYC.

Thanks again to all of our sponsors. Also best wishes to Bryan Van Arsdale who is leaving Bicycle Therapy. He has been a great asset to the squad.