May29summary/Frankenmuth

The gales of November returned for our May weekly ride and they were  straight out of the West, proving to be a formidable opponent for 20 riders.  But, thanks to Cary, with input from Rick and Mark, they provided an excellent training moment as we headed South.  After a demonstration at Barnes road, we learned the fine art of an efficient echelon in three separate groups.  Some of it was pretty and at times ugly, but the concept was embedded into all.  We need to continue to hone these techniques and skills in the coming weeks so that we all ride more efficiently.

As for the scoring, the suggested change by Cary was welcomed by all.  Our two team concept will stay intact, but each rider can only score once for the night.  In a duplicate win for one rider, the scoring will default to the second rider across the line.  This worked out well with six different riders taking sprints.  The scoring for the night ended up 16 white and 5 black.(someone double check this)
Totals to date are:
white 43
black 27
eots 6

Frankenmuth
"there are a thousand stories in the Naked City".... great movie... there were also many stories from a Frankenmuth weekend.  If you want the cold hard numbers, the results are posted on the MBRA site.  If you want the rest of the story, here is some of it.  First off, I knew nothing about the goings on of the Dog Bowl, now I do and I am still traumatized.  As for the racing, 15 CFT riders made the journey with many fine showings.  In the cat 5's Tanner had his inaugural RR experience. Thanks to a course marshall snafu, I am sure it did not turn out as planned, but he has the bug now.  Joe Kennedy had a good showing in the 5's, Bryan Waldman and Kevin Gamper had superb showings crossing the line in 1st and 4th place, only to be told otherwise,  (see aforementioned comment about the course marshall snafu).  Both took the disappointing news in stride.  In the 4's, Craig Newell and John Gracely had nice showings and both finished in the points in what proved to be a very fast field finish.  Also in the 4's Brad Neagos suffered through a mechanical issue at the start and watched from the sidelines.  But, as one passer buyer stated to Wade as he saw the issue unfold, "your rider handled the situation with class".  Nice thing to hear about a teammate.  In the 45m's, Mustapha and Mike Williams (good to see Mike racing) finished in the field as did Mark in the 55's.  In the 35 masters the ZACADOWA train (my new acronym for wade, doug, zack and cary, get used to it)  was a major factor in the race.  Although each of them said separately they were a little disappointed in not getting Cary to the line first, the ground work is laid for the future.  In talking with Cary he said it was an "awesome sight" seeing 4 black CFT jerseys come to the front of the field with 1 mile to go and take control of the finish.  End result 3rd place for Cary and a superb effort for the team.

Hope to see all at West Branch, until then, later.