Denes Grabes 15th in Grant Park State Crit Championships

- Atlanta, GA -

Moving up to Category 4 with fellow teammates Kevin Roberts and Andrew Lockwood, sophomore engineering major Gabe Denes continued to show signs of improvement on his bike after a hard summer's worth of work. Racing on the hilly Grant Park criterium course, Denes cruised to a 15th place finish out of the field of 75.

"Being my first Cat4 race, I was only hoping to finish," Denes said afterward. "It was definitely an experience watching the field move from 75 riders down to nearly 30 as I plugged along. The 5 laps sign came earlier than I had expected, and sure enough, the pace increased a heck of a lot more once the signs went up."

According to his Garmin, Denes' average heart-rate averaged out at 186 bpm for the race, an extremely high level of performance for the up-and-coming athlete.

"I had never done that before and was shocked to see the numbers afterwords," Denes added. "I made sure to spin up the hills and stay aero in the descent to stay as efficient as possible, trying to conserve energy for my goal of just finishing the race. Now that I know I can sustain these numbers, I'll push myself harder in the next race and try for a podium. I'm happy with the result of the race, and am excited for my next crit, knowing my parameters and that I can push myself just that much more."

To check out Gabe's numbers visit his Garmin Account here.

Consistent Top-10 Finishes for Lockwood & Roberts at Georgia Cup's Dalton Grand Prix

- Dalton, GA -
Results

Racing in their first and second Georgia Cup Racing Series events respectively, Andrew Lockwood and Kevin Roberts powered their way to top finishes in this past weekend's Dalton Grand Prix Omnium. Skipping the early morning time trial Saturday, Roberts and Lockwood teamed up for a pair of top-10 finishes in Saturday night's criterium in downtown Dalton. Covering 0.73 miles over two blocks per lap, the field of approximately 30 riders got off to a fast start, averaging over 25 mph during the course of the 40 minute, 23 lap affair.

"I loved the course," commented Lockwood after the race. "It was a great venue minus this slight lip on the backstretch. My water bottle popped off my bike during the first lap when I hit it. Other than that, it was an extremely fast course."

Roberts kindly shared his other water bottle with Lockwood along the front stretch of the race, helping his teammate in distress. "I felt like a pro in the peloton handing him a bottle," Roberts said jokingly. "It was a great race though and one I felt like I could've certainly won at the end."

Roberts had a strong showing in the criterium, leading at times throughout the race. His attack late in the race was derailed by a communication mishap from officials about the number of laps left in the race. Despite the mishap, Roberts coasted across the line in 5th place while Lockwood claimed 8th.

The road race on Saturday in Adairsville took a last minute twist when race officials decided to add the Cat 4 field to the Cat 5s, limiting the race to only 48 miles (from the original 60). Roberts once again felt his aggressive bone stir inside his body, making a 15 second gap on the field midway through the race for about 15 minutes. However, the field of 68 riders soon reeled him back in despite some sandbagging from Lockwood in the front.

Late in the race, both Roberts and Lockwood set themselves up for a final sprint to the line by making a sharp descent down the final hills in the top three positions. Roberts gave an unbelievable leadout to the line before bonking with only 100 meters to go. Lockwood would chase a few riders in, coming in 6th while Roberts dropped to 12th.

"It was a great weekend to race," said Lockwood. "There's such a big difference when you've got a teammate you can depend on in the peloton. It makes a world of difference."