On Sunday April 15th, 2012 Deeds Cycling had an eight man squad line up at the 2012 Macon Cycling Classic for the Georgia State Criterium Championship in the Masters 35+ race. Read Kent Wheeler’s race report as he takes 2nd.
The Masters 35+ field for the criterium was the Who's Who in Georgia Masters racing, and Todd Muller, a.k.a. The Boss, assigned the roles to each rider and gave out a loose plan for the race. We headed over to the start finish line and after a couple of announcements and the typical stuff from the officials we were set to race. Once the officials blew the whistle we were off.
I went into turn one and did a quick look back and noticed I had a small little gap. I thought, “What the hell, might as well try a suicide
attempt”. With the support of the team, I was able to get a 20 seconds gap after about five laps off the front. Thinking things were going well, I rounded turn two and spun out when I stood up to go up the hill. I had dropped my chain. Carrying my momentum I reached down and put my chain back on but unfortunately it let the peloton to catch up.
The rest of the race was filled with attacks and counter attacks. I stayed toward the front and blocked for teammates up the road or worked in a break myself.
With five laps to go they announced a prime and I decided to go for it. Coming out of turn four I charged up the hill and won the prime! Looking back, I noticed I had a small gap again, so I put my head down and went for it. This was a risky move at the end of a race, but I figured even if I got caught it would allow the rest of the team to rest up for the sprint. I was quickly joined by David Gearheart of Team Mission Source, and we shared pulls for the next four laps. By the final lap we had opened up a small gap from the peloton with the help of the Deeds team patrolling the front. Coming out of turn three on the final lap I was sitting behind David’s wheel in a perfect spot.
Half way to turn four I jumped and went for it thinking that David would not be able to follow. Unfortunately for me, he was able to get on my wheel and get just enough rest to jump me after turn four and take it in for the win. I rolled in second with the field sprint coming in on our heels.
Thanks to terrific support, Deeds Publishing was able to get a rider on the podium.