MLK Race Report

Last Saturday saw the first race of the season in the town of Crenshaw, which is more or less South Central LA. The course was approximately 2-3km, with a bumpy descent over 3 drainage ditches, followed by a sweeping left onto the back straight into a tailwind, followed by a chicane leading into a bumpy 1 block hill, before making a final left turn into an uphill headwind 200m finishing straight to the finish. As this was not a scheduled team race (the first being this Sunday in Dominguez Hills), the full Swamis - FPPI Devt Elite Team was not in attendance. Chris Daggs, Dana Alia, and myself ventured up to Crenshaw, with Daggs competing in both the Master's 35+ and the Pro/1/2 races. Alex Jarman from the UCSD - Swamis development effort also raced the Cat 4 race. Loic Marcourt (our belgian exchange cyclist) came with us to get his first taste of US Crit racing. Loic helped us get ready for our races, cheering and shouting advice from the sidelines.
Chris Daggs was very active in the Masters race, following many moves and generally being an aggressive rider thru-out his race. With 15 minutes to race, Daggs launched a vicious attack, quickly building a 30 second gap. Now in Time Trial mode, Daggs maintained his gap and took the 30 second gap into the final lap. Unfortunately, the cards were stacked against him, and the sprinters worked together to bring him back. The worthy effort was foiled, and Chris had to rip off his top number and now race in the P/1/2, with less than 10 mins of recovery.
Dana and I were considerably more fresh for the race, and it looks like the big, consistent miles we have put in over the winter are paying off. We took turns countering moves off the front along with Daggs. It is worth mentioning that the field was a very solid and fast one, with LaGrange Cycling out of West LA bringing 16 riders to the race. Tony Cruz (former US Postal and Discovery Channel rider) from the BMC Professional team, along with Hilton Clarke (former Navigators Pro Team) from Toyota United Pro Cycling team were also in attendance, along with a smattering of fast guys from around Southern CA. Clearly, with LaGrange bringing the full squad, they were looking to dominate the race, and put guys in every move, or chase down anything that did not have a couple of LaGrange riders in the break. Gradually a break of 8 riders formed, escaping in 2's and 3's. Hilton Clarke made the move, and with his help, the break lapped the field. Meanwhile, back in the pack, the attacks were nasty, mostly coming from riders who wanted to be in the winning break. Tony Cruz was especially active, and when that guy dials it up, it is brutal.
The breakaway of 8 lapped the field with 5 laps to go, and LaGrange began to lift the pace, looking for a sprint victory (5 of 8 riders in the break were LaGrange). As the pace got faster and faster, two other LaGrange riders that had attacked the field (not part of the original break of 8) were left out in NoMan'sLand, and their gap was rapidly shrinking. Tony Cruz led thru the chicane and up the final hill, before Hilton Clarke blasted thru the inside of the final corner, snatching victory from LaGrange. Going into the chicane, I was sitting in about 6th wheel, with Dana Alia right behind me. We blasted up over the hill, and I opened up my sprint, good enough for 4th or 5th in the field sprint, 12th overall. Dana came in a few spots behind me, somewhere around top 20. Daggs unfortunately paid for his heroic efforts in the Masters race, and finished off the pace of the lead group.
For the first race of the season I was satisfied with the result. I feel like Swamis - FPPI Devt Elite can be a factor in any race we do, and this weekend's Crit is a sign of better racing to come. The race paid 15 deep, so we even got to split some prize money at the first race of the year. Following the Crit, Dana, Daggs, Loic, Alex, and I went to see the LA Track World Cup. We saw the Men's Keirin, Team Pursuit Finals, and Men's Scratch race. Watching world class athletes in competition helped us see the bigger picture, and what is possible at the top end of our sport.
Until next race.
Zack Simkover
Swamis - FPPI Devt Eite
Team and Media Relations