Timpani Crit Race Report

Timpani Crit in Santa Clara was this past weekend. The boys were active for the entire race. Eventually, Rand and Ryan got off with a breakaway group late in the race. Rand rode aggressively as always and went for it solo into the last lap. He came so close yet again but just missed out on the win. His all or nothing attacking style is relentless and fun to watch. He's more than due for a big W, I can feel it coming! Anyhow, below is Rand's report from the race.

Full Results

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Timpani Crit
Santa Clara, CA
8/3/2008
Weather: Cool, sunny, windy
Teammates: Fabrice, James, Rob, Jono, Ryan, Neil
Place: 6th of ~90

The Timpani crit defines the four-corner flat criterium course. Some spots of questionable pavement and some severe winds generally add a little spice to the mix.

This race was relatively fast throughout, but the large field made it difficult for any breakaways to get much time. I was on the attack as often as possible, and the other AV boys kept the race rolling as well.

The race was punctuated by a rather dramatic front-stretch crash, which produced some of the most awesome crash photos I have seen.

With about 6 laps to go, Ryan and I made it into a ~10 man breakaway. I quickly surveyed the group, saw some fellow breakaway maniacs like Vince Owens (Sierra Pacific) and Keith Miller (CalGiant), and decided it was worth a shot to stay away. The group worked pretty well, but the pack was within about 10 seconds of us, and guys started getting antsy. Ryan did a great job in the break, burning some matches to make sure it stayed away.

With 1 lap to go, I pulled through hard, simply trying to keep the pace high, but I ended up with a slight gap as the break started looking at one another.

I could see the pack closing fast behind, and the break hesitating, so I decided it was better to go for it solo than get caught by the field.

I made it all the way to the final corner before being caught by a few guys from the break, most notably Keith Miller, who put in a brutal effort to take the win. I ended up finishing 6th, as my legs were too shot from the solo effort to sprint much.

I am bummed I couldnt pull off the win...so close. Still, good riding by the whole team. Fabrice finished somewhere in the top-20, and all the guys on the team worked well all race long.

Rand