Memorial Day weekend has been on my mind for sometime… first of course because my brother and grandfather are current/former servicemen and it’s a great time to be thankful for the opportunity to be free, and second because Saturday May 28th was the ITT State Championships for SCNCA. If you know me and my less than impressive TT skills you might be thinking, “McCulloch’s a Sally, he’s scared of a 40K”, which I can understand, but the race had been on my mind for precisely the opposite reason.
The last TT we went to saw two of my teammates (Devan Dunn and Dave Santos) smash a course record with Lee Muse bringing home a well earned 3rd place. Here’s the catch, with the upcoming TTT Championships four riders are needed to compete, three positions appears to be locked up, but somebody has to fill that fourth spot, so why not me… Earning that 4th spot on the TTT team would be a big challenge given my TT results, but I needed a lofty cycling goal and timetrialing is the least developed portion of my cycling. I put it on the goal sheet and started riding the TT bike substantially to give myself a chance at the opportunity.
Flash forward to race day and things had changed significantly, A-train was suffering from Bronchitis, Albert was focused on training, and we made the team decision to go to Tulsa Tough rather than TTT Champs. With that said and stiff wind on the course, I rode as hard as I could given my lack of 40K experience; 13th on the day wasn’t the most impressive ride of the day, but I was satisfied. My goal at the beginning of the day was top ten so I wasn’t far off and given the quality of the field. I think I did a good timetrial, for me.
Unfortunately for me Saturday became my best result of the weekend as I ended Sunday’s Barry Wolfe GP in the Medic Area with a few facial lacerations and a broken bike… However, there was a silver lining, the crafty medics at Barry Wolfe had positioned the medic area at the exit to turn four and I was able to see my homeboy Dave Santos sprinting for the line as he outclassed the field for a three-quarter-lap Cancellara-esqe attack that brought him his first win of the season. If you know Dave, you know why we call him the ‘Silent Assassin’. Dave is an incredibly classy guy, a gutsy bike rider, and an all-around stud; so it was awesome to see him win his first race in style. Although, I was disappointed that I didn’t play any part in setting him up for his win, I was elated for Dave and felt really privileged that he and the rest of my CashCall Mortgage teammates came over to check on me after the race.
Taking 1st in a hard fought race is always special, but another highlight came in the fight for the other two podium spots. Former Criterium National Champion Rhassan Bahati and our very own Lee Muse were dicing heavily for the 2nd spot. Lee ultimately ended up 3rd on the day, but it wasn’t without getting the bit between his teeth and really fighting for every last inch of roadway in the sprint. It was an impressive effort to say the least.
On Monday we raced the CBR Memorial Day Crit where Chris Lotts, a former servicemen, put on a great race. It was a difficult pill to swallow but I couldn’t race as I had smashed up my bike pretty good in the crash on Sunday and to add insult to injury my boy Devan Dunn finished what I started as he ran over my steed once I had been ejected from the cockpit (Thanks Bro…). With a quick pre-race trip to Bike Religion and copious amounts of help from the awesome staff (Thanks Alex!) I was off to support my teammates at the races with a suitable training rig in the car as company.
Team CashCall Mortgage may have been down two riders on the course with A-train and me out, but he and I weren’t about to let the boys down from the sidelines. We showed up and shouted splits, riders in the breakaways, and unloaded a hefty dose of enthusiasm on Devan, Dave, Lee, Albert, and John each lap as they came by. In the end after countless Albert Gonzalez attacks and reshuffled breaks we got Albert and Dave up the road with six other riders.
Dave and Albert were relentless in their efforts to whittle down the break and eventually broke the breakaway in half, splitting the group down to two pods of three. Dave was up the road with some strong horses, but our confidence never wavered. True to his nickname, the ‘Silent Assassin’, came through with a blistering headwind attack that took him to the win. Albert salvaged a very well deserved sixth on the day, and Lee took home the field sprint for seventh. It was a good day all around for Team CashCall Mortgage and although I wasn’t racing, I still felt like I had helped the team, even if in only a small way.
I’m anxious to get back to racing and will be back in action next weekend in Bakersfield. No doubt I’ll be extra motivated for this all important road race given this past weekends escapades.
Be Safe, Ride Hard, And Have Fun,
BMc
