Georgia Cup - Grant Park Criterium

It was the best of times....It was the worst of times

Saturday September 8, 2007 was the beginning of the final weekend of this year's Georgia Cup Series. The season began in late February and with all the races - it was a long season. Most of the riders are ready to wind down and ease up on the riding intensity.

Saturday saw CBR racers race in four races. Jonathan Cook did the category 5 race and did very well. The field was between 45 and 50 riders. Jon stayed right in the pack for the entire race. On the final lap he attacked up the climb from corner three and put many of the field into distress. At corner 4 he stood up again and attacked about 300 yards from the finish. I thought he had gone too soon, but his attack just before hurt the entire field. Jon held on and captured 5th place in the race.

Next up were the category 4/5 racers. In this group we had Matt Ragan, John Stowe, Ryan Crabbe and Jonathan Cook. The races were sponsored by Aaron's cycling team and they had raised plenty of money and prizes for the primes. They really used them in the races. The 4/5 race had multiple gift cards, cash and a $300 prime during the race. With a field of 75 and money and prizes on the line - the pace was really high. The pace and the course took it's toll on the field and our racers. The officials were not allowing racers to continue if they lost the pack. Well, that said, in the end only one of CBR riders crossed the finish line. John Stowe, the BIG Diesel crossed in 23rd place.

The next group was the 3/4 Elite races. Ryan Crabbe did his second race of the day and unfortunately, began to cramp up early on and was forced to leave the race early. The master's group for CBR was Steve Murray and Barry Carswell. The field was moderately sized and started out just fine. There were several of the local Georgia "big" hitters in the group and also visiting the race was the National 35+ Master's Champion. The group began to do some attacks and there were also the primes. What does that have to do with the outcome? Alot. A third of the way into the race, I was unable to respond to the pack and was out of the race. Shortly thereafter, two riders went off the front and were away. The National Champ jumped across. The response from the field was an attack by the current 45+ state crit champ (Doug Pomerantz) and another big dog of master's cycling (Andy Lougher). When the leaders appeared again, it was still just the original three. Doug and Andy were unable to bridge. They waited for the field to catch them and they were back in. The next lap saw Barry Carswell (CBR's premier master's rider) take the front of the chase field. Within another lap, he had dropped the field and has a 5 second gap. The next lap he had 10 seconds. The field closed within 10 meters, but Barry responded by putting a 150 meter gap on them and retaining it until the end. He was never able to close to the three leaders, but he put on a display of pure power to drop the field and take a solid fourth place in a strong, capable field of riders.

Congratulations go out to Jon, John and Barry for showing us how it is done!!