Sugar House Crit

There is racing and then there is something more. Here is the more.

Lets start with big kudo's to some savvy, talented master's riders who are not only tuff, but exude a lot of class. Don Armstrong (Mazda) and Mark Skarpohl (Cole Sport). This is going to be the loudest of all buzzes from the Hornet regarding any race at the S-House. Here is how I understand it (please note that Hornets aren't known for scoring high on the SAT's).

Armstrong goes with Skarpohl on an attack off of the front of the pack. Skarpohl has a couple of teammates and Armstrong has an "Armada of Orange" in the main pack. So, Armstrong tells Skarpohl right off the bat, "you are going to pull and I won't contest first if you make it." Skarpohl digs it and says "Horray for Beer". They tool around (fast) for several laps to the end.

Here is when it gets pretty damn cool. Armstrong sits up at the last hill before the finish, true to his word. Skarpohl then sits up too and says "come on"- this guy is a gamer! He implores Armstrong to sprint while almost coming to a stop. Armstrong won't have anything of it, and obviously would rather have the field run him down and lose second, than reneg on a deal-(D.A. was all poker face and not about to look back to the dudes breathing down his back for his rightful second) - A true show of sportsmanship from both gentleman.

Big, big up's to both these dudes. That's what I'm talkin 'bout!

Awe-ight, more good stuff. The 1-2's put on a show. It was really broken up. J.L. was off the front pulling with some heavy hitters on his wheel. J.L. basically put 5-10 seconds on the 2 chasers every lap who were (strong men Sandros and Bryson) which has gotta be pretty hard to do. Norm TTed off of the main pack for 45 minutes in deep space 9 and held 'em off the entire way for 16th (that was yomen work from the kid who gained a lot of respect from the spec's) . More... Curly went nuts pulling off, then pulling the main group then pulling off again to hold off the group at the line- pretty cool.

Lastly, just a comment- Mr. Barrett is so wicked low on his bike he can lick the ground, and he is like 8 foot 10. He receives the honorary Arrow Award. To put a bit of perspective to this-I'm about 1 foot 9 on a 28cm bike and my hands are up near his eyeballs... in my drops!