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| Race ready. Photo by Anthony James |
Returning to the Southeast, we once again found some warm weather, with temps just about perfect come race time on Saturday for the Novant Health Invitational Criterium in Charlotte NC. Located in the heart of uptown Charlotte for the past twelve years, the event has special significance, being held to raise money and awareness for the Brain Tumor Fund for the Carolinas.
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| Skylar and Sam lined up in good position during the race. |
The event also served as the second race on the National Criterium Calendar, a major focus for the team this season. Despite Skylar doing an absolutely amazing job controlling the race, our top result reflected much work to be done within the team, with Sam finishing eight.
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| Cooling down together post-race. Photo by Anthony James |
We made up for our disappointment the following day at the CaroMont Health Criterium in nearby Belmont NC where Sam and Skylar finished 2-3, absolutely electrifying the race in the process. Yusse’s eighth place, despite a knee injury, gave us three riders in the top ten!
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| CaroMont Health podium: Sam, Hannah Barnes (UHC), and Skylar |
Skylar’s finish was particularly impressive given that, at 16 years old, she’s required to ride junior gears. Junior gear restrictions limit riders under 18 years of age from using gears at the bigger end of the spectrum--which means that on a course like Belmont, with a fast downhill section, Skylar has a massive handicap, having to spin like crazy to stay in the pack with all the other riders on normal gears. And she does it all with a constant smile and without complaint.
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| Smiling Skylar awaiting the start of the Novant Health Invitational. Photo by Anthony James |
Despite racing in North Carolina, our home away from home for these races has been in Greenville South Carolina where we’ll remain for another week as we prepare for the US National Criterium Championships this weekend. We’re grateful to our host Valerie Grimshaw, who, in addition to being an amazingly generous host, had fresh baked and still warm chocolate chip cookies waiting for us when we returned late Sunday night, exhausted from a weekend of racing and traveling.
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| Our beautiful Greenville neighborhood. |
Special thank yous to mechanic Pete Hill for volunteering his time to make sure our bikes were in absolutely pristine condition for both races, to ISCorp's Anthony James for excellent photos, to Race Director Thad Fischer for putting on a great weekend of racing, and to race sponsors Novant Health and CaroMont Health for making these races possible.
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| Clematis - one of many flowers in bloom making springtime is absolutely breathtaking in the Southeast. |
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