Athens Photos
Roswell Photos
- Athens, GA -
After a crazy weekend of racing, Mercer Cycling took another big step by racing near the top in Athens, Roswell, and Ft. Yargo. Racing for the second time in Athens, Mercer traveled with six riders (Kevin Roberts, Andrew Lockwood, Jason Glow, Gabe Denes, Austin Sholly, and Elizabeth Lee) and endured pouring rain during the morning criterium races presented by Jittery Joe's.
The 8:00am start saw enormous rain showers soak the 1 mile (0.7k) Greenway course between East Broad Street and North Avenue. Elizabeth Lee finished midway through the peloton in the Women's Cat 3/4 race to start the action that morning.
The men's race saw two significant rain showers during the 30 minute event and despite starting in the back, Kevin Roberts and Andrew Lockwood found their way to the front of the Cat 5 peloton after 2 laps. Midway through the race, Lockwood found the pavement after running in 3rd place behind Roberts in a slick part of the 115 degree turn 2. Losing valuable seconds, Lockwood would finish halfway through the second chase group in 27th.
Perhaps the worst crash of the race occured when Austin Sholly met the curb after taking the third turn a bit wide with 2 laps to go. Sholly suffered severe cuts to his right arm and leg and was forced to withdraw. Gabe Denes and Jason Glow would ultimately finish behind Lockwood in the third chase group.
After a solid run up front, Roberts was leading the peloton coming up the final hill before being edged out by three other sprinters, finishing 5th in the race. That finish marked Kevin's best crit finish of the 2010 season.
"That was a tough race out in the rain," said Lockwood after the event. "Congrats to Kevin on an unbelievable finish. Our team certainly showed a lot of improvement since last season's 53rd and 54th place finshes."
The team was able to also catch the remainder of the criterium racing schedule in Athens that night before splitting up to travel to Ft. Yargo for a mountain bike race and to Roswell for the Historic Roswell Criterium.
All four entries in the Roswell race posted strong showings in the 100+ field of Cat 4/5 riders. Roberts garnered a finish in 22nd while Lockwood stayed in the peloton to finish in 33rd. Jason Glow and Austin Sholly survived until the midrace cut, but Sholly showed a gutsy effort after he sustained a big crash the day before. The 40 minute event was by far the fastest race the team had endured all season with an average speed of over 25 mph on the 6 turn course.
In Ft. Yargo, Elizabeth Lee and Gabe Denes rode to 3rd place in their respective classes. Gabe Denes said after the race, "This was definitely my hardest race of the year. The fourth place rider stayed on my wheel for most of the race until the sprint at the end, which was into a 20+ mph headwind."
Mercer Cycling now hosts the Macon Cycling Classic around Tatnall Square Park on Saturday, May 1st. Details about the race can be found at www.maconcyclingclassic.com
