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2007-09-04 06:09:10

US Pro and 10K/100K

September 4th, 2007 Phew..!

The 2007 US Pro has come and gone...along with the final NRC race of the season, 10K/100K in Atlanta. This weekend is always a whirlwind and time in the car and on the microphone. Saturday started with the time trial and I was commentating from the start line. 

This years lineup was significantly stronger than last years. The Time Trial was a unique because of the first racer off the line. Saul Raisin, coming back from a hellacious crash, and near death....was the first rider off. When you race commentate you always try and find a balance of drama, fun and details. With Saul it was all about "the now". I went over the history of his injury briefly, then went on to say how nice it was to have him back in the fold. Then he was off. I come to understand he was "touched" by the send off. I think that is a first in my career that a cyclist was moved by commentary. Very nice

The TT rolled off...having coach/athlete Thad Dulin go somewhere in between, and the big dogs near the end. We know it was going to be a battle and Zabriskie beat new teammate Danny Pate by less than a second! You can read about it here

The 100k/10k in Atlanta was the penultimate NRC race of the season. The heat was definitely on. Why? NRC supremacy. Health Net and Toyota United all showed up with big guns. HN was at the top and TUP need the win to overtake the NRC title. Plus, the lingering hangover of 110 miles for the US Boys and it was sure to be a ringer. I never get to see what happens to the Men until 200 metres to go. They do loops around the airport while:

• The Pro women do 10k?!!!! for big bucks
• 10,000 runners do 10K
• Inline skaters do 10K
• Handcyclists do 10K

Ya get the drift. So, the women fire off after the men roll. 2 KOM's and the sturdy riding of P4T coach Robin Farina lit the match. Attacks were nonstop and then I, following them in my car, rolled to the finish. The women see the "chicken" and then drill for a 45 mph finish. (The chicken is a 45ft high KFC sign, everyone says drill it when you see the chicken)Robin attacked..but is was all for naught. Tina Pic came around Rebecca Larson for a ....zzzzz...for another win.

The men were all doing a slobberknocker out on the course but nothing would stick. Eventually with 5 miles to go, the sprinters teams started to take over. As the chicken came into view Emile Abraham gassed it, held of Dave McCook and Karl Menzies for the win. Emile knows the course, and got his second victory in the past 2 years. Kudos to Trinny. (He is from Trinidad and Tobago. Lookie here

wanna shout out to Medalist and Swagger....for putting together 2 awesome events and keeping me in the sport of cycling! Next week is GA Cup and then to Vegas.

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