Race Report: UGA

So we had a great time down in Athens, GA last weekend. The team did fantastic. We arrived in Athens, checked into our hotel (Bestwestern) and went and rode the course, or atleast tried to... When we got to the course we ran into some other guys that said they knew the course and started to follow them, but after the first turn we decided they didn't know the course (which they did) and we ended up riding around for and hour or so. That night we went downtown and ate at a little Italian restaurant which was quite good.

Saturday was race day! And it started off with a 15 mile ITT with cold temperatures and a fierce wind that was in your face at the start and finish. All in all it wasn't too bad, but it could have been warmer. Here is how the team did:

Spencer Beamer: 14th Men's A
Chris Butler: 8th Men's A
Craig McKinney: 8th Men's B
Kit Hunter: 3rd Men's B
Ashley Anderson: 1st Women's A
Todd McClure: 2nd Men's C
William Cunningham: 1st Men's C

Later that day was the road race. It was the same course as the ITT, just multiple laps. Men's C did 2, Men's B and Women's A did 3, and Men's A did 5. It was still windy, but it was warmer. It was a great race for everyone:

Spencer Beamer: 1st Men's A
Chris Butler: 8th Men's A
Craig McKinney: 12th Men's B
Kit Hunter: Pack Finish
Ashley Anderson: 8th Women's A
Todd McClure: 11th Men's C
William Cunningham: 10th Men's C

It was a late day that was capped off by a trip to The Grit.

The next morning was an early one. The team (by now numbering only 6, since Craig had to leave early; we were all 6 people and 8 bikes in one hotel room) awoke at 5:30am for the 7:30 start of the Men's C criterium. Luckily it was only a short drive to the UGA campus where the crit was. 7:30 came and it was still dark (and 38 degrees F) so the organizers decided to push the start back to 8:00. This helped a little since we got to warm up a bit. The criteriums went one right after the other on a pretty sketchy course that weaved by dumpesters, included two short little hills with a downhill and 160 degree turn between them. Here are the results:

Spencer Beamer: 1st Men's A
Chris Butler: 8th Men's A
Kit Hunter: Pack Finish
Ashley Anderson: 4th Women's A
Todd McClure: 1st Men's C
William Cunningham: 2nd Men's C

The team was done kicking enough butt for one weekend and decided to stop by the Pita Pit and Starbucks on the way home.

*Kit Hunter's results are labeled as 'Pack Finish' because they are not listed on the official SECCC results sheet.