Amazing Day :-)
BY KENNETH LUNDGREN
Saturday saw sweet success on the Elite Endurance front, and I was overjoyed. Dave Carr won the Cat-4 Sandy Hook TT, Bladdy Coronel of Westwood Velo had a personal best power-wise, Mike Burke of Pro Pedals is already at his best power of 2008, Benjamin Lesnak (who is going to be a major force to be reckoned wtih this year) had trouble with the wind etc on Saturday but was still able to ride to 9th. Dana Fallon, a smaller rider, didn’t fare so well in Saturday’s chaotic conditions (which definitely favored a bigger rider), but I expect Dana to come on STRONG at Readington.
I was elated by the results. Rob Havemeyer of Kreb’s Cycle is on some solid form and helped his teammate Dave Kim to his first of TWO victories on Saturday at Prospect. Solid teamwork… Laura Winberry of Team Campmor scored another solid result in Ecuador, 3rd at Segunda Valida, this time much closer to the leaders…
There was a crazy story this day, and it comes from Mike Whitaker of Spinners Cycling. On Saturday he drove to his local TT, but the event was cancelled. Poor turn-out, the wind was too dangerous. However, as Mike would later tell me, he was “hell-bent on racing his bicycle.” 🙂 In hindsight, he thought he should’ve looked ahead, brought his road bike, too, so he could jet to a race… So, he bolted home, got his road bike, and bolted to Philly for Day 1 of the Philly 2-day Classic on Diamond Circuit.
Mike said the field was stacked, many past PA Bar winners. He got there late, had to make a mad-dash to get ready in about 2 minutes, and even then as he got to the line the field was already up the road! Mike had to haul arse to catch on.
But Whitaker was a man possessed. He tried a solo flier early on and was caught three laps later. Then later a break of 6 formed. Mike was in the move, in there with strong Cat-1s and 2s. The break began attacking itself, guys zinging off the front. No one could get away.
With 1 lap to go, At Stamp of Hincapie Racing attacked and broke the break in half. Once caught, Mike attacked IMMEDIATELY, got the gap. FULL TT MODE TO THE LINE. Similar tactics of Boonen at Flanders in 2005… Mike Whitaker won by over 15 seconds. Huge win, did it in style. Started race late, then went off in angry solo move, then made the break, then DROPPED the break.
Talk about being on a good day 🙂 Mike told me this was one of his best days on the bike — ever — and it’s moments like this why I do what I do! Seeing athletes do well is more important than my own success, FAR more important… What a day!
Thanks for reading.
