Ocala Stage Race Report
Another great weekend was had in Ocala Saturday and Sunday. Turn out was great in spite of the sweltering heat. The courses were excellent, with lots of hills and corners to help make it more selective.
Breaks were the the word of the day and some stayed and others got caught, leaving the day to the sprinters in many of the field. Long downhill sprint with a long climb that lead up to it foiled a lot of people’s plans and the heat ended a lot of racer’s days early.
Saturday I got in an 18 mile break with Kent Wheeler from Ball Watch and a rider from GS Palm Beach only to get caught by the charging peloton 300m from the line in the 35+. Last place has never tasted so bitter. However, Sunday I was much luckier and was fortunate to succeed in my break attempt and enjoy a much better tasting result. Congrats to Ball Watch and Kent Wheeler for their overall victory!
A crash occured in the pro race on Sunday prving that you’ve got to be on your toes no matter what category you race. The heat takes it’s toll on everybody. Glad he was ok. Check out the video here.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=125204044186253
Good races were had by many teams including Gearlink, Florida Velo and Ball Watch as well as locals such a Trish Cohen, Tony Timonere, Ken Vida, Adam Baskin, Mark Stein and Pablo Santa Cruz among many others. It was great to see so many locals from our weekly crits up there having a go at things. This community has really grown since I lived here in 2002 and it’s just awesome to be a part of it again.
Check out the results and reports at Florida Racing Magazine and Florida Cycling. More detailed reports here as they materialize.
Ocala SR Race Photos by Christianne Hansley
Looking forward to this weekend in Clermont.
~JDS