Houston Grand Crit

Photos courtesy of Peggy Keedy

Once again Bike Barn put on another Houston Grand Crit. Located in Downtown Houston, this race always offers a great atmosphere for riders and spectators along with some tough racing in the good ol' Houston heat. After spending the majority of the past month in Europe I was in no way ready to be out racing in 90+ degree weather, but as these conditions will be similar to those in Italy during the World Championships in August I sucked it up and sweated it right back out. The course is basically a huge drag race with about a half mile out on Allen Parkway before turning around and heading right back. This made for an extremely fast race with the pace going over 30 mph frequently. I mainly just sat in for the first 40 minutes or so, and only went with a few attacks. When Mark Purnell gave the pack six back-to-back primes the racing really started to heat up. With about three laps to go and after prime number five I got to the front and drilled it. When I looked back I was in a selective group of about eight including a past winner of the Houston Grand Crit, Kevin Kremke (Bike Barn), along with about all of the major teams in the race. Over the next lap Kremke and I were the main contributors to the pace and were able to create a decent gap over the field. With a few more people helping with the work load over the next lap and a half I was sure that the break would stick and started to position myself for the sprint. Knowing that Kremke would be the man to beat I fought my way onto his wheel and sat there as many last minute attempts to break away were foiled. With about 200 meters to go Kremke jumped and started the sprint. I attached myself to his wheel and with about 150 meters to go I started my own sprint. I was able to come around him and hold off a charging Brian Fawley (Parks Place Dealership) for the win!