Crowning a champion

Yesterday was a big day for the DBC Juniors Team at the State Criterium Championships in Livermore. We had riders in the 10-12 male, 15-16 male and 17-18 male groups and all should be proud of how they performed.

In the 10-12 race Karch learned the hard way it is not always the strongest rider, but rather the smartest that wins the race in a crit. He found himself on the front and a marked man throughout. At 12 it is hard to have enough experience to foil the group mentality and so he put his head down and pulled, and pulled. In the end he would chase the last lap flier down and lead out the sprint only to come unwound with 100 meters to go settling for 5th. A strong ride indeed, but a bitter lesson learned as well.

In the 15-16 race I watched the race go up the road with about 9 laps to go when 3 riders jumped clear and opened a gap of about seven seconds. In that group there was no one from DBC and our lone rider, Alexander Freund, found himself with a decision to make. He made it quickly, jumping away from the group and motoring away in pursuit. Many thought his effort futile, but I have watched him enough to know what he is capable of. In a lap and a half he bridged solo to the leaders and thus a quartet now led the way. With one to go everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion that James LaBerge would sprint away. In the end he did indeed win, but Alexander made a run at the line and was actually running him down and simply ran out of road. A solid and well deserved silver medal for Alexander.

Finally in the 17-18 race we lined up three riders, Zach the man-child, Cody "the tapinator" Tapley and Andreas the strong. The field was deep and San Jose Bike Club, Swift and Specialized were well represented. On the first lap Cody lit it up and loosened the legs charging away from the field. His effort was short lived however and as the field came together Andreas, who admittedly does not like crits, motored away from the chaos with a SJBC rider in tow. The two were a well oiled machine and soon had 10, then 12, then 16 seconds in hand. Specialized and Swift didn't want to chase looking to the other to work and thus the gap continued to grow to 26 seconds. At that point someone sounded the alarm. After 10+ laps off the front the collective chase brought them back but Zach and Cody had a free ride and the field would soon pay for this mis-step. With 12 to go Cody and Sam Bolster from "Ride for a Reason" jumped clear. It seemed early but again SJBC, Swift ans Specialized let it go. Soon they had 8-10 seconds in hand and were working to hold the gap. With eight to go I saw something I could not believe when Zach jumped clear through the start finish and the group did not react. In one straightaway he was within 20 meters and soon joined the escape. Cody, Zach and Sam then all went into the "pain cave". You could see the effort on their faces and all were committed 100% to the move. The chase ensued and the gap at first held and then began to fall. It was cat and mouse the next three laps and with four to go it was down to three seconds. Then something happened, the chase imploded. The remaining riders simply could no longer respond and at the same time Sam struggled up front dropping off. With two to go it was Zach and Cody TTT-style up front with 8 seconds. With one to go it was 10 seconds. Cody's face was wound up tight and Zach just put his head down and churned the man-child legs. They rode through hand-in-hand for a 1-2 DBC finish, with Zach the new champion and his mate a well-deserved silver. Each rider played a pivotal role in Zach's victory and each is to be commended. Andreas after his monster effort out front, hung in, made all the cuts as the chase disintegrated and finished 10th. There was much ribbing, chatter and smiling after. I big win for a big-guy and the culmination of years of hard work. Congrats Zach; well done!