Friday Night
The sprints in the Rock Hill Omnium are unlike any other Omnium I have done. Most Omniums consist of a Time Trial, Road Race, and a Criterium. I was scheduled to go off at 7:40 in a heat with 7 other guys and 1st and 2nd would automatically make it to the final heat while 3rd,4th and 5th would get a second chance to try and make it. Frank went off an hour before me and told me the best thing to do would be sit 3rd wheel until about 200 meters out. I did exactly that and came around two guys to take the win advancing me to the final round. The final round would not start until 8:25 but do to a strong thunderstorm system the start got pushed back until 9 P.M. I went down to the start line and got clipped in while someone held my seat. The rain started coming down again and I was getting ancy as I did not want to get soaked. The official blew the whistle and we were off! I found myself leading the group of 7 guys and with the rain starting to pour I hit it as hard as I could 300 meters out and managed to hold everyone off. I got 120 bucks for the win and I was now the leader of the Omnium.
Saturday
I was registered to do the Juniors but skipped out in order to save myself for the crit that would follow later in the afternoon. I would have my Strong teammate Adam Penny to help me out and try to keep my first place overall. The rain held off and we were off at 11:45. With the course being went and slippery from the rain the night before I knew the chance of a crash was high so I would be very careful. The race would be 25 laps. I was feeling pretty good until a crash happend in one of the turns. My teammate Adam went down in the crash but was not hurt. He went to the Wheel pit and got his free lap. After the crash I had to chase down the leaders and after I caught them I was hurting bad and I would suffer the rest of the race. A breakaway of 3 guys went up the road with 2 laps to go and Adam did an Incredible job to bring them back and help me get a 7th place finish. I made 45 dollars for that place and gave Adam 20 for all the hard work he did.
Sunday
Sitting 3rd overall in the Omnuim only 1 point out of second place the plan today was for Adam to bring back breaks and protect me. The race would be 90 miles. Two 45 mile laps. About 7 miles in a 4 man break was established and they had a 5 minute lead by mile marker 35. When we came around and finished the first lap I grabbed a water bottle from my girlfriend Morgan and found out that the break was only 3 minutes ahead. Now the real race would start. Adam went to the front and was working extremely hard so the break would not stay away. Adam is such a hard rider and a great training partner. The break eventually got caught at mile 70 and the Peleton was Groupo Compacto(All together). A 2 man break went up the rode with 10 miles to go and they would never be seen again. Adam was cracked because of all the hard work he had been doing all day. I needed to get a good finish. My legs felt great and I knew that if I could get to the front of the group I could do really well in the sprint. As we turned on the finishing road and had only 1 Kilometer to go I was finding it hard to move to the front. At 400 meters the group started sprinting. I flew around a lot of guys but only enough to get 15th. I got 5 dollars for 15th. As of right now im not sure if I lost my Omnium spot but I probably did. Overall it was a great weekend and I am feeling really strong. Its great to have a strong teammate such as Adam and be able to come away with results. My next race will be in 2 weeks down in Charleston SC.
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