Pancake flat square four corner crit with a false flat on the backside. Roads and turns wide enough to fit three 18-Wheelers side by side.
Arrive at the course around 5:00 o’clock from the 4.5-hour drive from Chicagoland and race at 6:30 for the 4’s. In the 4’s we don’t race in the dark, its almost dark when we finish though. What we do get is the setting sun straight into our face from turn 1 all the way through the apex of turn 2 for 24 of the 25 laps. Not too much to report from this race. The standard cat 4 crash came on the second lap in turn three, the slowest turn on the course. We were all asking each other how in the h*ll did that even happen?!? Whatever, there was at least one crash per day in the 4’s. Several actually on Sunday & Monday. This is relatively simple race since the roads are so wide (so you think! we will learn otherwise the next day), there’s only 4 corners, and absolutely no brakes necessary anywhere on the course.
My main objective for Friday night was to just open up the legs, punch it on the last lap, and roll it in. The X-factor on this course is the sun in your face on the second straight all the way into the 2nd turn. You are literally riding blind and following the silhouettes in front of you until half way through the second corner, no moving anywhere on the second stretch. Pretty much just tailgunned it. The one time I did test it and moved up the twitchy factor quadrupled.
Opened up the legs, gave a good dig on the final lap, stayed upright, crossed the line. Good deal, the Gateway Cup 2010 is officially on now!
Finished 58 or 59 of 109 starters.
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