Race Report: DFC Crit SM4

After spending the 20-minute drive to the Federal Center trying to come up with good excuses to not race (the rain stopped, the roads were dry, my girlfriend was out of town, and I felt good) ... I pulled in, bummed 40 bucks from Gilstrap, registered, and was ready to rock!

It was pretty awesome rolling up to the starting line with 5 Primal Riders, we looked super intimidating in the black and green, so we already had the phycological advantage before the whistle blew! The game plan going in was to not do too much work on the front, respond to anything that went, and try to send a few attacks after the halfway point.

Right away we positioned ourselves at the front and helped tap out a pretty quick pace. On the second lap, I found myself working on the front like I was not supposed to do when I heard Chris yell "Go for it!" so I made an attack that got shut down quickly but it was fun to mix it up a bit!

This race was the best team race I have ridden with Primal so far, the guys all communicated extremely well and everyone helped beat the pack down little by little. Around 15 minutes in Gilstrap went for a Preem and helped drive the pace hard and Grant took over to carry the momentum forward. After a regroup Josh went off the front to hit the hill first. Once that got pulled back Brian immediately went out on an attack that only 1 rider was able to respond to... As he pulled away Mark placed himself on the front and helped let a gap open up, it was very well executed team tactics! The other riders were forced to do a ton of work to regroup and it let me hide out for a few laps.

On the final bell lap, with 1 to go it became obvious that this was going to come down to a race to the final corner, the best line was going to win. It was full gas up the hill and a mini sprint to the last turn. Pete from Palmeras hit the turn first but I was able to take my turn inside on him giving me a small gap to out kick him for the win. Josh finished in a hard-fought top 10 to secure the Primal team win as well.

Overall this was a fun course and very well organized by the Primal women’s team. Riding with so many teammates gave me a ton of confidence to be aggressive and know that they would back it up.