Chuck Pontius Memorial Criterium 2012...

In the blink of an eye, races can go from ho-hum to chaos, can't they?

one of five crashes in the Cat 3 race

Fortunately, my day in the Masters 50+ race was far less dramatic. Okaaay, but was it successful? I managed to cross the line in 50th spot out of 63 or 68 starters, or something like that. Certainly nothing to brag about, but I am still going to consider it an accomplishment, another step along the comeback trail. Right now you are probably thinking - that just sounds ridiculous. Normally I would agree, but: Second race of the year (first was a dnf), and second race in the past ten years, if you recall the story. I was never pressed during the race, but at the same time never put much effort into it for fear that I would blow up if I did. Well, now that I know I can do it again, it is time to move onto the next step, actually doing some work. Needless to say there are no photos from the 50+ race - I guess I need an assistant now. A break went clear early on, five riders, and they stayed clear for the duration. Ralph was constantly admonishing us to move or we would suffer the indignity of being lapped, but we never were. At the finish David Prechtl took top honors, with Stephen Gregorios in 2nd and Malcolm Hill 3rd.

The Women's Cat 3/4 race took off after the 50+ race. It seemed like the ladies raced pretty steady which set up a field sprint with the victor taking the win by about a bike length. The two categories raced together, but were scored separately: For the Cat 3s it was Lisa Brinton (Team Dude Girl/Cycles Brixton) ahead of Charity Chia (Santa Clarita Velo), and Emily Georgeson (Helens/Cannondale). For the Cat 4s, it was Shelby Walter (Velo Club LaGrange) reaching the line before Jennifer Gill (PAA/Remax) and Sarah Brodsky (Team Dude Girl/Cycles Brixton). A couple photos are below, more here.

In addition to the photos below, more Masters 40+ cat 3/4 photos are here.

Mark Planellas (SC Velo) leads the field through the start/finish late in the race

Next up, the Masters 45+ Cat 1-4. All the big guns were out for this race and, though there were numerous break attempts, nothing held so it was all together for the finish. The BBI/Schroeder Iron and Breakaway from Cancer teams have been primary protagonists in the 45+ races so far this year, and this race was more of the same, with Craig Miller of BBI reaching the line ahead of Richard Meeker. John Slover rounded out the top three. More of the 45+ race (beside the two below) are here.

I only stuck around for one more race this weekend, and that was the Category 3's. You never know what you'll get with the Cat 3s - mostly fast and competitive, there also tend to be a fair number of crashes. A couple below, with more photos from the 3s here. None of the carnage during the race could prevent Eric Anderson (OTR Racing) from taking the win ahead of David Perez (Bike Palace), and Daniel Gay (Get Crackin' / MS Society).