May 22, 2010
Riders: Luke Keough, Josh Dillon and Jerome Townsend
Result: Jerome 11th, Luke 17th and Josh 23rd
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/wilmington-grand-prix-ne/results
Josh, Luke and I toed the line for the NRC Wilmington Grand Prix. The race promised to be a bit more interesting than previous editions with the addition of four corners from last year. We started under sunny skies and for the first hour of the race the pace was relentless with riders trying to go away every lap through the start finish. With about 10-15 laps left the skies opened up and a down pour decided the rest of the race. The first corner that we went through once the rain had started almost half the field went down. This allowed two Jamis riders to get a gap on the field that they held the entire race. None of the BikeReg boys went down but I had to put a foot down and so went to the pit and took a free lap. Upon getting back in I immediately went to the front and found Josh where we spent the last 10 or so laps no farther down than the top 10. Josh went on a flyer in quest of 5th with 4 laps to go but was brought back with 2 to go. It was a good move as the single or small groups of riders were able to go faster through the slick corners than the pack was. However, once Josh came back into the field he sacrificed any chance of his getting a result and sat on the front for a lap and a half to keep me in good position and out of trouble. I was fourth wheel coming through the last corner with the pack, we were sprinting for 5th. I made a bit of a mistake and was drawn into sprinting with the three riders in front of me and could hold my speed all the way to the line. I should have stayed seated and waited for 75 meters or so before starting my sprint. I ended up 11th, and Josh came in 23 after beating himself up for me. Luke was never far behind and stayed out of trouble to take 17th.
Pictures:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/wilmington-grand-prix-ne/photos/122915
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/wilmington-grand-prix-ne/photos/122930
