Gateway Cup

After being told I need to re-enter the blogosphere after being absent for a while I thought I should probably update you on my experiences over in the US of A. Last weekend I had the Gateway Cup which was held over 4 days on the Labour Day long weekend in various locations of St. Louis. The first race was a totally new experience for me; not only was it the first big race I have done since being over here, it also started after my usual bedtime. It was a night time crit with 140 starters around Lafayette Square, starting at 10.15pm and with only the four corners with any significant light on them. You can read Chev's humorous blog to find out how he thought the race would pan out. So after the "The Star Spangled Banner" had been played to the riders and the crowd of thousands and me only having a rough idea of what song was being played at the time, the starter fired his gun and we were off....well almost, after i got around a crash that occurred 2 meters into the race, I thought Chev's predictions could come to fruition. The pace was fast but easily manageable, I tried to stay as close to past Australian Road Race Champion and current pro, Henk Vogels as I could as I knew he would be the man to watch. The race went for 60min+5laps and with 5 laps to go I was in the top 10. With 2 to go though I lost a few positions and ended up finishing 27th whih I was very happy with. Let me tell you the last 10min of the race was terrifying, sitting on 50+kmh through pitch black ares, not recommended.

The rest of the races were all pretty fast and although I only finished 2 out of the 4 races (the 2nd day I pulled out intentionally and the last day it was extremely hot and humid and the heat smashed me more than anything.) But I did find some form in my legs...finally which is a good sign for Nationals which start 2 and a half weeks after Gateway Cup.

The weekend just gone the four of us Aussies all travelled to Inianapolis again for a final workout on the track before nationals. I think we came away with a lot more of an idea of the track form we have got and how we will perform at nationals. We leave tomorrow morning for a 8hr drive to Kansas City and then another 6hrs on wednesday to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Competition starts on Thursday so hopefully if I have access to the net I will be able to update you daily on how we are going. Until then, cya