Kalaeloa criterium

Yesterday was the Hawaii State Criterium at Kalaeloa. The HACC put it on this year and did a great job. There was some concern before the race about the shape the road was in but it seemed fine to me and we all had a blast carving corners all morning. Our team had some good results and we all raced from the front of the pack which always looks good. John "HACC Daddy G" put on a great show with his nemisis Ed, with the two of them dropping the golden masters field on the first lap, then battling it out for the rest of the race. Ed got the better of him this time, but it was edge of your seat racing. Speaking of which, check out the women's finish line photo above. One of our newest HACC riders Shannon Cutting tore it up in that race, edging out another rider in a dramatic sprint. Way to go Shannon. Now we need to get her in a HACC jersey for these photos! She also raced the 4/5 race and took a flyer off the front which looked like it was going to stick for a while, Wow!

Since fast cornering with large groups scares me I employed my "jumping off the front as hard as I can over and over" strategy for the first 5 or 6 laps everytime the pace slowed a bit. Making the pack accelerate repeatedly shakes loose all the dead wood and winnowed the field down to about 10 of the stronger/steadier riders. The finishing sprint was so chaotic and fun I kept wishing we could do that part over. I won 3rd place with my buddy Steve placing 5th.

So HACC took home a first in the womens race, second in the old dudes, and 3rd and 5th in the beginners. Another awesome showing if I do say so myself.

A big Mahalo to Bennie Peterson for all the great pictures.