First Race Report of the Season: Cal Aggie Crit

Rand Miller and new W/AV rider for '09 Justin Fraga kicked off the season at Cal Aggie Crit. Both riders were aggressive and netted places in the top-10. Below is Rand's report.

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Cal Aggie Crit
Sacramento, CA
1/31/09
Weather: Warm, sunny, still
Teammates: Justin Fraga
Placing: 4th of ~70 (Justin was 7th)

Justin and I, eager to get racing season underway, made the short trip out to Sacramento for the Cal Aggie crit. This race is run on the same course as the Land Park Crit later in the year. The long, winding, undulating course is punctuated by two sets of sharp chicanes...some of the most fun cornering all year.

Justin and I didn't discuss tactics before the race, but we both knew what we were going to do all day: attack. It's what we do.

Justin went in a few early moves, which I countered as they were brought back. Nothing gained much ground, but at least Justin and I were present in any moves that went up the road.

About halfway through the race, I went off the front, joined by JD Bergman (Clif Bar). We stayed away with a 30 second lead all the way to about 4 laps to go. As soon as I was brought back into the fold, I saw a streak of green flying off the front. Justin was at it again, this time with a Davis kid.

These two got a good gap, and I tucked into the front of the pack, marking CalGiant sprinter Pat Briggs. If Justin stayed away, great. If not, I was ready for the bunch sprint.

With only about 300m left, Justin's break was still a few seconds up the road. I could see the Davis kid pulling ahead of Justin as they pushed to the line, and that's when we started our sprint. The break looked like it was standing still as we hurtled toward them...but it was going to be close.

The super-strong Davis kid held us all off, winning the race...he deserved it. Justin was caught by the bunch sprint with about 10m to go. Briggs took the tight sprint for 2nd, followed by a Clif Bar rider and myself, putting me in 4th.

Justin held on for 7th, which shows how close he was to the line when we came flying by.

Our timing was off by just a few seconds...but still, it was a great race and we worked very well together in our first race as teammates. Looking forward to the rest of the season!

Thanks for reading,
Rand