One Great Race Report -Anthill CAT4 Crit Race
When I read this race report it is hard not to be motivated. If you are a weekend warrior like I am, sometimes you cna find the drive to increase the training intensity from reading someone else’s hard won success. I usually am near the back of the pack so my view of the finish in from race reports, and some are better than others. And these one is darn good. Thus my desire to share it with you.
Anthill Cat IV Race Report
by: Stratton Easter
So before the 4’s even got started I was already super pumped, my
youngest brother Griffin was able to grab 2nd place by a hefty margin
in the 5 race. I guess he was right behind a crash going into the
third turn (which Bill got caught up in luckily though he’s OK and
there was only minor bike damage) and was able to dodge around the
chaos and push hard for a solo 2nd place, he definitely needs to get
some La Grange colors on. Seeing as how this was my first official
all 4 race I was getting somewhat more nervous than usual as I didn’t
really know what to expect in terms of the field. According to the
race announcer there was about 70 racers so it was gonna be
interesting to say the least. Leading the Blue/White train was
myself, Marc Thomas, the Haus, Doc Silver and JT. The race started
out a pretty quick pace as a few rogue racers popping off the front
grabbing some of the early primes. My favorite wheel t follow in the
world was right in front of me the whole time (Marc) and I was
constantly being assured by his inquisitive shouting asking where I
was and letting me know where he was as well. Unfortunately as you’ve
probably already heard about 3/4 of the way into the race some idiot
up front freaked out on the downhill turn 3 and started bouncing
across the course only to run into the hay bail HARD and in the
process take out about 9 riders and Marc was one of them. It’s
defintely not easy to keep racing when you know a team mate went down,
luckily because Marc is freakishly tall I saw him standing up and
walking around whih was encouraging. From that point the race got a
little skittish. People were a little more cautious going into the
turn and as a result racing lines started to get a little sloppy. One
of the crash victims actually came back into the race sporting some
ventilated bibs and looking for trouble. He was all over the road and
started to get into it with another racers, thankfully he kinda fell
back as we got closer to the end. With about 3 laps to go I saw the
Haus streak up the left hand side going into turn 3 and I hopped on
his wheel to try and get in position. I had noticed from some of the
earlier races and a few of the primes in our race that positioning was
going to be key in the final sprint. Luckily heading into the last
lap I was able to get myself up to about 6 place and the guys in front
started picking up the pace which gapped the peloton a little bit. I
screamed up ahead that we had a gap and it turned out to work out even
better than I though, the pace picked up again with the peloton still
staying away and giving us plenty of room to work with heading in the
the final turn. I managed to stay in about 5th position coming into
the home stretch and once I felt the pace pick up a bit I decided to
kick it into gear and pop out for the sprint. The uphill finish was a
little different but I buried my head and luckily the move stuck and
I crossed the line victorious!Now the win was a great feeling but what was even more awesome was
the overwhelming support I encountered at the finish. My mom and
little brother were there to congratulate me first but then I was
greeted by all of our 4’s and some 5’s that had stuck around to watch.
Alan, David, Byron and Bill were all there to help in the
celebration. It’s seriously the coolest feeling in the world to work
hard in a race and then come to the finish and see your team mates so
genuinely excited for you. I might have nearly taken JT’s hand off
when I gave him a high five after crossing the line so hopefully
there’s no bruising. Bill even managed to get a great picture of the
finish, he didn’t need to stick around after his crash but he was
right there to offer support which was awesome. Both Byron and Alan
both had a looooooong day yet stuck around as well. All in all I’d
have to say that sharing the win with the La Grange boys was the
highlight of the day. So thanks to everyone that was there today and
those who stayed to watch. It was so much fun and I can’t wait for
all of us to get up into the 4’s. Marc, I hope the Landshark has a
speedy recovery as well as your hindquarters.
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