Tonight we went to the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte NC. What a night. We got to see two great races. Won in two different styles. Both races had every team trying everything they could to be up front for all of the money being offered. $25,000 for the womens race and $50,000 for the mens race. And that is only the prize list, not including primes.
The course was shaped like a big dumbell with lots of weight on it, a four corner crit on each side of a long straightaway which went up hill a bit in the middle where the finish line was located. At the start of the womens race the bell was rung right away for a $200 prime. That started the fireworks and the primes coming lap after lap kept the fireworks going. With 10 laps to go there was a $500 prime that pulled Kat Carroll from Aaron's off the front and she just kept on going. The rest of the teams didn't get organized fast enough to bring Kat back and Aaron's did a great job watching the front. Kat held on for a very impressive solo victory.
The mens race started with 134 riders, we all knew it wasn't going to finish with anything close to that. Again primes, primes, primes and fast. I really don't know how they can handle such a high pace for that long. Supermen indeed. It was a straight line for the better part of two hours. You could just see the pain on the faces of every riders in the field as they struggled to hold on for dear life. And the guy behind him hoping he could get around to close up gaps. Pain. The race came down to 8 guys getting away with around 12 laps to go and holding off the remainer of the field (50 some odd riders left) with the help of their teammates in the field. Wow, it is just inspiring.
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