Return to Port Orange was an exceptionally good weekend of racing for me. The first day barely satisfied, with a second place but what stood out was the day that followed. After the race on Saturday, I distinctly remember telling Ian how cool it would be to win in a solo break. As I kept that vision vivid in my mind, I went into Sunday’s crit determined and eager to step on the top step of the podium. The crit started out fast but wasn’t too difficult, I attacked some early on but nothing solid. I remember thinking that the race was almost over and I still hadn’t put in a good move yet. Then it happened, a fellow racer attacked and I followed, only when we got caught, he stopped and I charged on. This was the moment of truth; could I hang on to my dwindling lead? I dug deep for the longest 10 laps of my life, once I hit bell lap, I knew it was all over! A smile exploded across my face and I outstretched my arms in victory. My dream race finish had become a reality.
Sunday was a good day to say the least. I was a little unsure about my decision to move up to Cat 3's after the race on Saturday but I did my best to put that behind me. First up was the Juniors race. It started out pretty fast like most Junior races do, but nothing too crazy. My teammate, Casey Braga, launched a pretty hard attack with Jake Hill and a couple of other riders bridged up. The pack went into chase mode and eventually caught the break. Once the break was caught, the pace slowed considerably, I took this opportunity to get off the front and was later bridged up to by a couple of others, including our very own Jay Major. The break stuck and I found myself outsprinting Ruben Delcristo for the win in Juniors 17-18. It was my very first road win. Enough of Juniors, more excitement followed in the Cat 3 race!!.
The Cat 3 race was crazy, about three times longer than the Junior race…in the middle of a storm. Water was everywhere and I did my best to stay in the top ten. Eventually the attacks started coming and I found myself in a four man breakaway. Props to Ian McGauvran and Jos Chalmers who blocked to make the break work but soon the break went from four riders to about twelve; even Jos was up there with me. Once the break had grown to that size the pace slowed a lot but not that many riders were working. With three laps to go a strong rider was off the front so Kyle Rohan and I attacked hard and bridged up to him. Now the pain really began, as the three of us were rotating at very high speeds as we pushed the pace to make our break succeed. I can’t thank Jos enough for blocking; the break probably wouldn’t have worked without him. With one lap to go I realized this was it, I was going to get top three no matter what. Through the pain, our group picked up the pace even more. Timing was definitely on my side, as Kyle Rohan was taking a hard pull at just the right moment. I waited then gave it my all to sprint around him at the line just barely besting him. My first wins back-to-back, what a feeling!! I can’t stress enough how much my team helped me, from blocking to cheering me on, I don’t think I could’ve done it alone.
Dahlonega, what a great team weekend! I was going to write my version of the ride but I think I'll just give you the short bites.
The drive up and back was special, what with when's-dinner-I'm-hungry-Brad, not-on-my-legs-Brandon and I'm-totally-innocent-Michelle. Yeah, a real three ring circus.
How much food keeps 21 people happy? About $200 worth at Wally World.
Jeff Major is REALLY brave to sit quietly while I tear around the mountain curves and chase the riders.
I don't know what Eddie says, but he has a golden ability to motivate kids to excel on the climbs.
Ian is the Colavita version of a mountain goat. He was flying up the mountains.
Christian, Taylor, Dean, and Ian deserve special note for climbing Brasstown Bald after doing the three gaps. Anselm gamely tried, but was defeated by the steep grade. Don't feel bed, Anselm, your mom's van didn't see humor in the climb either...
I NEVER heard a complaint about the climbs or anything all weekend.
On Saturday morning when we first left the Hostel and all the juniors were in team kits, riding toward Turner's Corner in a two-abreast formation, all I could think of was "WOW, IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!"
Thank you very much to the parents for driving up and all the help.
And, thank you very much to the juniors for doing such a grand job on the mountains
Diane Blake
Taylor Warren The trip to Georgia for me was amazing. Being the new guys, I was a little skeptical but I decided to go on the trip not really knowing what to expect. Riding in the mountains was crazy intense, I had to give a lot to push it to the top. Once at the summit of a gap though, there's no better feeling of accomplishment. Descending is wicked fun too!
Not only did I get stronger riding the mountains but I think I bonded with the team in ways I couldn't have done without the trip. At the hostel there was lots fun, from playing manhunt to trying to start a fire. I also loved the way the team encourages each other to fight to the top. The Georgia weekend is something I will remember for a long time.
Zoe Mullins
Dahlonega was great. It was my first time climbing up a mountain and I was really nervous. Saturday I climbed up Neels and Woody gaps. Neels gap was pretty hard, plus it was my first ever climb, and Woody was pretty easy. I didn't descend Neels, but I did go down Woodys which was really fun and my favorite part of the weekend. Sunday I climbed up Jacks and Unicoi gap. Jacks gap to me was pretty hard and long and Unicoi was kind of hard and short. I descended Jacks gap, and it was fun to do, I didn't descend Unicoi though. I was very happy when I made it to the top of Neels gap on Saturday because it was a big accomplishment to me. It was also fun that weekend to spend time with the team and overall I think this was a great experience.
Michelle Blake Team Colavita; will the fun times never end? I sure hope not.
Another weekend gone by with our fabulous team, this time in Dahlonega, GA to work on our mountain climbing skills. As a true Floridian, my world of cycling pretty much consists of flat and fast so heading into the hills was a big change in terrain. But I was looking forward to it anyways.
The car ride up proved to be another epic one. Both Brandon Forman and Bradley Gordon outright stated that they were going to be in our car, no matter what, making for a very entertaining ride. There are two things that are now common knowledge on our team that had the effect of making it so fun. One is that we have been campaigning for what seems almost forever to get Brandon to shave his legs like a normal cyclist. Illustrating the benefits and joys of cutting away that wild forest of hair that men like to cultivate on their legs. And two, it has become widely known the story of what I did to Casey Braga when he fell asleep in the car on the last trip to Dahlonega. Basically, every guy on the team is scared to death of me and my makeup kit. So put those two together plus my mom and you've got yourself a three ring circus on wheels...
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