Category 3/4 race had Carney, Johann, John (me), Scott, Rife, and Alex lined up in the 60+ rider field. Numbers were on our side, but the course was so fast it was tough to get anyone into a successful break. Can't say we didn't try though. Race stayed together through much of it's 25 laps, but with HARD pulls by both Johann and Carney, it kept the racing honest and pretty strung out. With the race winding down, Carney did his usual best in making riders suffer and took two huge pulls on the back stretch with three to go and again with two laps to go. On the final lap - as usually happens - everyone started looking at one another, but didn't want to pull through after Carney's monster efforts and the pack started to swell and bunch up across the road.... Then came Johann. As soon as the situation looked out of our control, Johann pulled through an took a massive turn on the back side of the course. He strung the whole pack out perfectly w/ John, Scott and Rife all in good position for the finale. Johann held his speed into the last corner, launching the three of us towards the line. So, everything looked perfect - except - coming into the final corner, one rider jumped the whole field and gapped us all by 30 yards in the blink of an eye. Hoping he would explode before the finish line, we put our heads down and pushed it all the way to the line. Didn't get him. With an incredibly gutsy move, he had won the race. John held onto 2nd, Scott was right behind in 4th, with Brian taking 7th.
Although we missed out on the win, it was a near perfect finish for the Team.
Johann, Steve, and Josh lined up for the Category 4/5 race later in the day. With some bad luck in Philly the day before, both Johann and Josh were looking for some redemption. With aggressive riding, the three FHR riders were working over the field for another strong finish. After some communication and his success with the move earlier in the day, Johann agreed to lead out Josh for the finale. Great plan, but in corner one of the final lap, Josh was taken out. Both he and Johann were in the front end of the pack - great position to be in, but as they rounded the first corner, Josh found himself sliding across the pavement. Luckily, Josh was able to walk away from the crash - with some road rash that will surely feel great this week - but nothing too serious. Frustrating way to finish the day for the Team (and painful for Josh) - but overall it was another good showing for FH. The results (and better luck) will come...
