Finally a sunny Saturday this winter!!!
Colby Millen and Wes Parrish, both out of Atlanta, headed up to Greenville, SC for race number 3 of the Greenville Spring Training Series. For those of you that have never had the chance, these races are a staple in the Southeast and a great stomping ground for those who want to see how their winter preparation will pay off.
Since there were only two going, it was to be assumed that we’d be severely outnumbered. Thus, the plan was to just stay out of trouble, get some solid training in and see what happens at the finish. Sitting on the start line with about 80 other riders, we saw that our assumption was right – 6 full professionals from Team Type 1, the entire 8 man Ion Sports Nutrition team, and 6 or 7 riders from South Carolina powerhouse, GlobalBike. A recipe for a real good day in the saddle.
The race started out fast with several attacks. Colby and Wes both had great starts near the front and tried to cover some of the breakaway attempts, but nothing was sticking. After about 10 miles of this, a group finally stuck, but LITESPEED-BMW was not represented. Being only 2-strong, we just sat back and let the other teams chase. The organizers changed the finish this year, so there was about a 1.5 kilometer climb to the finish that would surely split the group towards the end. Sure enough with 1 lap to go about a dozen riders detached themselves from the group. On the last lap, Colby made several attempts to get across to the breakaway. Going as fast as he could on his Litespeed Archon C1, he was no match for the 50 riders chasing behind him, and would be brought back each time. The dozen riders were never seen again and Colby was still able to able to unleash a sprint that got him in the top 15 of the main group and the top 30 overall.
A pretty solid finish for being so outnumbered and it being the first race of the year. Next weekend should see the LITESPEED-BMW team racing in 3 different states in the Southeast, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading!