Windsor #1

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trevor
Posts:352
Joined:Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:52 am
Windsor #1

Post by trevor » Sun May 21, 2017 3:28 pm

The nicest day of the season welcomed us to the course for the first Windsor VCL of 2017. Numbers were high with Wheelers racers Isaac, Eugene, Joel, Nick, Bryson, Andrew, and this reporter waving the blue and gold on the day. A huge shout out to the organizing team and volunteers for their efforts on the day. IMHO this is the gemstone of the VCL calendar and today was a reminder of why this is the case.

The race started out as most crits do, quick. Turns on the front by this reporter, Nick and Duncan kept Wheeler teammates out of the wind for the first 20 laps of the 55 lap affair. A few accelerations and testing of the legs but as we saw at Speedway, our guys have become heavily marked by other squads. At one point in the first 10 laps I rolled up beside Eugene and he had no fewer than 4 PCR racers marking his wheel, a compliment I'd say.

At about the 20 lap mark Isaac rolled by the pack with pace and elicited a collective "UP! UP! UP!" from the competition. A few racers accelerated and made the bridge to his wheel but none with as much snap as the 2016 RR champ. After a lap I encouraged Nick to join our guy and off he went with young SS Adam in tow eventually dropping the companion and making the bridge solo. Up the road all teams were represented in Tubbs, a young TS youth named Carter, BSC Parker, and our guys Isaac and Nick. Liking these chances we set to work on marking moves and keeping the strong men in the bunch from changing the numbers up front. Our main focus was on Raph and teammate Brendan as well as visiting Aussie Harrison and PCR Nick. Harrison put in a few strong laps marked well by Eugene making a dent in the break's gap but the pace quickly lulled as soon as he pulled off the front. After one such dig and lull Raph went off the front and Nick looked to join in on move. I went in pursuit (with no one in tow) and was just about to make contact when Raph and Nick got disconnected and our potential group of 3 became splintered resulting in myself and Raph getting picked up by the pursuing pack and Nick making it across. This would prove to be critical as it would be Nick who would eventually get the victory on the day.

The rest of the laps were controlled with a few worthy digs by Joel and Duncan forcing other teams to work. With about 8 to go Eugene took a group clear and would hold it and win his bunch. I would lead out Duncan who finished 2nd in our group. In the leaders PCR Nick put in an early move that Isaac almost brought back only to be beaten by a half wheel followed closely by Nick. 2nd, 3rd, and 8th of the top 10. Not too shabby but not our goal.

On the horizon we have Neild Rd HC next Wednesday followed by the BC RR Championships and then on to Bob Cam weekend. Looking forward to it!

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