Road Race/ Time Trial - Saturday, March 6, 2010

Lake Buffum area, Alturas

 

 

 Criterium - Sunday, March 7, 2010

(Includes a race for kids / ages 4-9)

Downtown, Winter Haven

  

Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Race Series Events 

  

USCF Sanctioned Events    

 

Cyclists of all ages and classes racing on the scenic roads of Polk County & the streets of beautiful downtown Winter Haven competing for Series points and prize money

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Young: (Criterium Comments) You guys put together an outstanding event. I have been to almost 400 bike races. That was one of the best. I may be a bit biased. Thanks for all the effort. It is greatly appreciated. Can't wait till next year. I think 5 of those crashes came in the I-II race? The deal there was the sheer number of riders going so fast. The course was awesome. Most of the guys I spoke with loved the 8 corners. I know I did. It makes it a real race. We don't have too many hilly crits in Florida so that was a good challenging course and great to watch as a spectator. I don't think riders will be scared away if the same course is used next year at all.

Gary Stern:  (Criterium Comments) The course was AWESOME! There is NO need to change it. Yes, there were a ton of crashes, but I'd attribute a lot of that to the recently completed road surfaces and lack of rain prior to the event to "wash down" the city streets. There was lots of buzz about how the course was a TRUE crit course, not the "standard" 4-corner or 6-corner crits that we always do here in FL. Tim M and Darryl P were talking with me about it at dinner on Saturday night. We agreed that it was cool to have a course like this and we even talked about trying to pull it off at other locations. Instant classic that is up there with Dade City. Should be a Florida Cup next year! I'll push for it.........  you guys did a GREAT job. The best 1st year race I've ever done. Everything went very smoothly. Hell, even with all the crashes, your EMT support was spot on. Guys were getting picked up left and right and racing went on. Thanks

Jubie Aulisio: (Criterium Comments) I think a certain appeal with crit. racing is having a technical, yet safe course. Some crits are wide open which makes them more like a road race and removes the technical aspect of the race. Others are very technical. I would put the WH course in the category of a technical course and in comparison to the other technical courses it was also one of the safer courses. The coffee shop turn required some technical skill, but it didn't seem to be to difficult. I think the people that went down took the preceding turn to fast and were in bad position going into the coffee shop turn. I don't think anyone went down in that turn in our race. Of course, the pros might have been hitting it 1 or 2 mph faster and that might have made a difference.  Yeah, I liked the course. Actually, the whole week-end was great, so I wouldn't make any major changes.

Robert Alfert: (Road Race Comments) Kudos to the race directors. Outstanding venue. Fast, flat course with just enough cross-wind to make things painful and create break opportunities. Field size was manageable. Start time was dead-on! Registration was smooth and easy. Tight officiating in the 35+ with a truck honking like crazy anytime anyone crossed the yellow line. Kept our race relatively clean (not perfectly, as some guys just don't care, but kept most in check).  Supporting this race year after year is a no-brainer to me.  Good job guys/ladies!!!

Jim Wright: (Criterium Comments) OUTSTANDING Course to race on! Almost perfect pavement with 8 turns in 1.2 miles. They offered a first lap preme and with no team mates it might be my only "win" of the day. I smoked the tires off the line (no, not really). Got plenty of gap right away and I was able to ease up and still take the preme by 100 yards or so. Mark Yeager and I took turns neutralizing each other. But we were both having a ball because we knew what it was doing to the pack. Mark and two others were off the front with less then 2 to go when Scott Pfaff did some nice work cutting their gap in half before givin' up the ghost. I realized I could get to them with enough time to rest a few seconds before the sprint so I took off with a single file line behind me. Caught them two turns before the bell rang for one to go. The crowd was great as they were cheering as the race came back together at the bell lap. I stayed positioned well and then Pablo hit the front. I got swarmed a little and was 7th with two turns to go. That's how we finished. Pablo won. The course, city and citizen support, everything was 1st class for this race. Great work to all responsible. The pros race was a crash fest as the course had some tight short chutes between turns 1 (right) and 2 (left). I never saw a kids race with so many kids! They had two fields with each one about 50 kids! It was AWESOME!  Humane society had really cute pups there and they should have used them as podium pups, because they gave great kisses!

Steve Johnson:  Bill, thank you for your note, and congratulations on a successful launch of the Chain of Lakes Cycling Classic! I very much enjoyed the opportunity to meet you and see your beautiful city. Please pass on my congratulations to your committee when they meet in two weeks and let them know that their first effort was a resounding success. I took the time to speak with many of the riders at your event and heard nothing but very positive comments. I think you are in great hands with Topview sports and I wish you continued success with your event.

Thanks again for you hospitality, and please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance.

All the best,

Steve Johnson

            Chief Executive Officer

            USA Cycling