Mineral Wells Stage Race(cat 4):

"Tales from the Tail"
Joseph Lafico

Can you say Windy?! Well the 4's started off at 10:10 in the morning.  Aaron Sinclair and Joseph LaFico rolled out with the other 57 or so riders onto a 54-mile, 2 lap course.  The Road Race was calm and uneventful until the first time up the infamous "Cherry-Pie Hill".  Long story short, the pack Blew-up.  Climbing sensation Aaron Sinclair put the wood to the Pack as he Stormed up the hill.  After the hill, approximately 15 riders broke free, to put the Smack-Down on the stragglers in back.  LaFico was able to rejoin with a group of about 15-20 riders in a chasing pack.  Knowing he had a rider in the front group, Joseph "sat in" and cruised through the 2nd lap leaving the pace making to the other teams. All chasing was in vain as the lead group had well over a 2-minute gap.  After the 2nd climb up Cherry Pie Hill Sinclair came away with an awesome 2nd place finish as he was nudged out at the line. LaFico was about 3 minutes back as the 190 pounder is not the stellar hill climber to say the least.

TT:  Once showered and re-hydrated from the Road Race Sinclair and LaFico headed back to racing as a 7 mile TT was held later that evening. The TT was composed of a 3-mile stretch of Flat Fast Road leading to the Dreaded Cherry Pie Hill (yes, this would be the 3rd time up this daunting 2Km Climb).  Once over the hill the competitors faced a Blazing 3 mile stretch to the finish line. 
Now lets talk about Teamwork...Sinclair and LaFico headed out to the TT start against the wind. Unfortunately the two left late and to make matters worse Joseph had a Flat along the way.  Long story short, after a Mad Dash by both to the Start Line, LaFico arrived was sent off within 3 minutes of arriving.  Being tapped out and having the Wrong Gearing for the TT hill Climb LaFico suffered through the TT and had a deplorable time. Thankfully, there was a different story for Mr. Sinclair. GCCA had the #1 TT in the 4's due to a Lightning Fast TT by Aaron. 

Spirits were high as the GCCA'ers had a wonderful dinner at he Local Italian Joint next to the "Not so Executive" Executive Inn. Well,... minus the Lima Beans and Carrots!! Aaron and Joseph were joined by fellow Teammates, Charlotte, Tracie, Carmi, and Pazit.  The jovial crowd swapped the days race stories and bonded, as the group got to know about each other. After the Late Night Strategizing it was off to bed for a good nights rest before the following days crit.

Crit:  At 2:40 in the Afternoon the North Texas Heat can be brutal...and it was.  Joseph and Aaron lined up for the crit with the potential challengers scoped-out, hoping to eliminate them from obtaining time bonuses to Snag the #1 spot from Sinclair. In addition to the tandem GCCA'ers a Northwest rider lent his assistance to make sure the other GC Contenders did not gobble the bonuses up.  The Crit started and the Hammer Dropped. During the beginning part of the Crit Sinclair was cautious and stayed behind LaFico's wheel to avoid the ever-present wrecks and hardships of potential breakaways. LaFico did his best in the early stages of the crit to keep the Sinclair with lead group.  After a couple breaks and wrecks in the pack, Sinclair seemed to find his legs and was in the top spots of the leading pack. With the crit winding down, The Contenders broke for the time Bonuses and Scored. In the last lap Sinclair took an unbelievable flyer and destroyed the pack. Chasers became anxious and attempted to chase, only to find the concrete curbs in their way as the smashed to the ground.  Sitting about 10 places back, LaFico saw the break and sat up to slow the charging field. (There were some not so kind words as those wanting him to work realized the team tactics at hand)  Aaron held off the charging field until the closing meters of the race were he was caught and finished about 5 places in the Crit.

After a sobering realization that the Main Challengers had obtained a few to many time bonuses for Sinclair to hold onto his 1st place, Sinclair was Thankful for the Safe/challenging race that had unfolded and Gladly accepted his 2nd Place Prize Money!  Way to Go Aaron. LaFico ended up 17th overall

Although the #1 spot was not Grasped by GCCA, other more important intangables were gained as LaFico and Sinclair were pleased that each had done their best to help the other have the Best Possible Race.  (Makes ya wanna cry don't it:O)



That's all i got Playas

JL