Fort Dodge Trisport
USAF Classic 2010
Travis Jass took a family trip back to Washington DC for a family wedding. Wouldn't you know it, there was a bike race just around the corner on the same weekend. Not sure how he timed that out but here are some pics from the race. Travis' summary of the race as well:
The forcast threatened rain but it never came about. It ended up being as hot and humid as August in Iowa. Got lined up at back end of VERY large field. I would guess there were 100+. No pre-ride lap so I didn't now what to expect. The course was mostly flat with a small descent into a left turn then a small uphill. The finishing straight was probably 1/2 mile long, straight and flat. Started off very fast and about 2 laps in I was really doubting myself as I was running at redline hanging on to the back of the entire field. A group of 6-8 guys caused a gap and I just moved up out of it. That happened two consecutive laps in the same place as the front of the pack wound it up coming into the straight. I just kept hanging out at the back, doing just enough to stay there. Another lap or two passed and I found myself caught up behind another small group of bobbers. Got a great pic of that and me tagging onto someone who accelerated out. If I wouldn't have made it out of that, my day would have been over. I literally screamed "thank you" to him several times when we got back into the group. Unfortunately, I think he burned his last match getting me up there. At that point, there were probably 4 laps to go, and I was at the back of a 35ish man group. Paying 20 deep, I started working my way up every chance I could, making it to around 12-15th position going into the final lap. Coming out of the second turn, the rider in about 5th position got greedy, made a really bone-headed move to the outside and wrecked. 4-5 riders were on the ground to begin with, I was yelling to the rider ahead of me to "GO! GO! GO!" He, me, and the rider behind me were about two pedal strokes from making it thru when someone hit into the right rear of the rider behind me, pushing him into me. I went down, but knew it wasn't bad. As I got the bike straightened out, I gave it a forward pull to get it back under me and it wouldn't move. I hear "Hey buddy, don't wanna lose your wheel do ya?" I didn't realize his handle bar was through my rear spokes. He thought I was mad and ready to blame him, but I wasn't just bummed, I knew it wasn't his fault. Had to remove my wheel from my frame and twist it around his shifter and bar. Got the carbon carnage cleaned up and finished the last lap fist bumping my tangle tango partner. Ended up the rider ahead of me went down pretty hard and had some pretty wicked road rash. Came away with nothing more than a light scratch on my knee and a small tweak to my wrist. Lots of fun, nice to race against some new faces to see how we stack up against others as well as getting to ride on a professional course.
The forcast threatened rain but it never came about. It ended up being as hot and humid as August in Iowa. Got lined up at back end of VERY large field. I would guess there were 100+. No pre-ride lap so I didn't now what to expect. The course was mostly flat with a small descent into a left turn then a small uphill. The finishing straight was probably 1/2 mile long, straight and flat. Started off very fast and about 2 laps in I was really doubting myself as I was running at redline hanging on to the back of the entire field. A group of 6-8 guys caused a gap and I just moved up out of it. That happened two consecutive laps in the same place as the front of the pack wound it up coming into the straight. I just kept hanging out at the back, doing just enough to stay there. Another lap or two passed and I found myself caught up behind another small group of bobbers. Got a great pic of that and me tagging onto someone who accelerated out. If I wouldn't have made it out of that, my day would have been over. I literally screamed "thank you" to him several times when we got back into the group. Unfortunately, I think he burned his last match getting me up there. At that point, there were probably 4 laps to go, and I was at the back of a 35ish man group. Paying 20 deep, I started working my way up every chance I could, making it to around 12-15th position going into the final lap. Coming out of the second turn, the rider in about 5th position got greedy, made a really bone-headed move to the outside and wrecked. 4-5 riders were on the ground to begin with, I was yelling to the rider ahead of me to "GO! GO! GO!" He, me, and the rider behind me were about two pedal strokes from making it thru when someone hit into the right rear of the rider behind me, pushing him into me. I went down, but knew it wasn't bad. As I got the bike straightened out, I gave it a forward pull to get it back under me and it wouldn't move. I hear "Hey buddy, don't wanna lose your wheel do ya?" I didn't realize his handle bar was through my rear spokes. He thought I was mad and ready to blame him, but I wasn't just bummed, I knew it wasn't his fault. Had to remove my wheel from my frame and twist it around his shifter and bar. Got the carbon carnage cleaned up and finished the last lap fist bumping my tangle tango partner. Ended up the rider ahead of me went down pretty hard and had some pretty wicked road rash. Came away with nothing more than a light scratch on my knee and a small tweak to my wrist. Lots of fun, nice to race against some new faces to see how we stack up against others as well as getting to ride on a professional course.