We had a bit of bad luck for Kelton's first UCI race. Bad stomach from food day 1. We where in it and doing well in the mud on day 2 but three dropped chains took him out of contention despite three pits with fully washed bikes. All his top competition was there from the U.S. plus competitors from GBR and Canada.
KO Roach came and raced with us. He raced CAT 4 men. His races where first thing in the morning between 8-9. First day was really warm second day started with 5" of fresh snow and 20 degrees. Ground wasn't frozen so it became a slush that froze to the bike, cleats, and pedals. Competitors drive trains froze completely solid
KO also suffered some sort of stomach problems on day 1.....Think we ate something wrong. Nonetheless they where competitive from the gun and hung tough. Day two we adjusted for the snow. KO's first experience racing in it, got the hole shot then took some time figuring out how to race in those conditions by the end of the race he was getting it figured out. Not sure exactly where he placed. Really looking forward to Kelton's race in the afternoon in the mud and snow, he tends to excel in those conditions. He felt good and was off to a good start with the hole shot leading the field for the first lap, then had a crash on the off camber and dropped a chain. Fought back but had another two chain drops on his B bike (pretty common occurrence throughout the day in all the races) Regardless we learned a few things.....Windshield automotive aerosol deicer is your friend in those conditions, spray it everywhere. Even UCI C2 events are taken very seriously and bring out the very best competitors. Can't imagine what a World Cup pit is like. At that level and in those conditions you need a lot of resources at your disposal to be competitive with the large programs like Donnelly, Alpha, Trek Collective, Boulder Jr. Cycling, etc.. They've got it dialed giving their athletes the best possible opportunity. Regardless, I was proud of our "privateer" efforts.
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