After a days rest, Jordan and his Slipstream Craddock team were ready to battle for another Junior National Championship. The road race was held on a 15-mile rolling circuit on the Fort Gordon Army Base. An early morning start meant the heat wouldn't be a huge factor. With 150+ racers taking the start, on a course lacking any real challenge, a field sprint was very likely.
Crashes were the story of the day, several on the first lap. Slipstream Craddock led the field through the feedzone at the end of the first lap, with Jordan riding near the back. His teammate Mino Gunta had a flat tire, but the wheel car was no where in sight. Suddenly we hear at the end of the feed zone hill, hoping none of our riders were involved. Then Jordan appears, having turned around and immediately offers his rear wheel to Mino.
Jordan figures he will grab a nuetral wheel from the car, and quickly chase back up. Unfortunately, the wheel car is several minutes behind the race, servicing the many previous crashes. After a few minutes, we start asking if anyone has a spare. A generous parent offers one, and Jordan heads off to make up a deficit of several minutes.
Jordan caught up to Mino, and Imari Miller, who was involved in the feedzone crash. Those 3 worked together in a small group to regain the field, but eventually realized it was an impossible task.
At the front of the race, Slipstream Craddock still had 7 racers in the front group which was still 70-80 riders strong with 1 lap to go. Several crashes near the end of the race left several racers with a painful, disappointing ride to the finish.
As predicted, the race did end in a large field sprint, with Alex Darville jumping too early, leaving the door open to Miguel Bryon for the win in a photo finish with Logan Owen. Ansel Dickey finished 3rd.
Teammate Michael Dessau narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing 6th, with Greg Daniel taking 8th.
Even though the team didn't achieve the success they would have liked in the Road Race and Criterium, the team gained some valuable experience. With a majority of the riders remaining in the junior ranks for next year, the future certainly looks bright for the Slipstream Craddock Junior Development Team.
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