I've been told that the promoter of Cross Vegas is from Boulder, and I'm impressed that such a great first time (UCI) event was organized from afar. Since the race was in Vegas, I'm sure there were lots of wagers made on the sidelines. I put my money on Big Bird (that's Ryan's pre-Treefarm moniker) and kept my fingers crossed that he wouldn't have an early race bobble, which I was certain would spell disaster in the form of a giant temper tantrum. But, he played his cards right and took the victory from an impressive lineup of competitors.
The next evening was the crit finals. This race took place on the grounds of Mandalay Bay, out back in a ginormous parking lot. The course was about as wide as a city street, and was bound on either side by metal crowd barriers (those with feet sticking out perpendicular to the "wall"). A major advantage of the course design was the giant "oxbow" that looped around the best spectating spot of the event, from which you could also see the well placed jumbo-tron. Disastrous to the course, other than the metal cage surrounding it, was the lack of distance out of the start/finish line before hitting the first tight corner. So imagine what happened every time the announcer would yell "PREM' LAP... $500!" The men would sprint through the finish with nowhere to go, and crash after crash would ensue. While the race was dull in the middle, the last 12 laps were pretty exciting. Steve Tilford broke off the front with two other racers for the event's most enduring breakaway. After 3 laps together, Tilford rode the other two off his wheel (or did they crash on one of the death corners), his sights surely set on the impending $5,000 one-lap-to-go prem'. Then the KBS/Medifast team worked the front, eventually spitting off their own riders one by one from the front, the exhausted riders nearly caused even more crashes as they gasped for air after their all-out efforts. Tilford was caught. The Rock Racing team - or should I call them a gang - swarmed to the front behind the KBS riders, looking primed to sneak up on the win. When the announcer cheered riders out onto their second to last lap, with $5,000 for the prem', all hell broke loose. The pace already fast, became insane, riders crashed into the metal caging around the first corner, spectators screamed, the front of the race moved faster. I forget who got the prem'! A KBS rider who was in the lead with a decent gap at the last lap's start tried so hard to hold the gap to the finish and it looked like he would, until Ivan Dominguez caught his wheel on the last corner into the finish stretch. Then it seemed inevitable that he would out-sprint the KBS rider for the win, and he did!
This is ridiculous
The finishing lap of the crit
What an exciting event. Glad I could be there to see it for myself.
Erin
Labels: Good Spectating
