Ohio recap...

The last stage of the tour of Ohio was the exact opposite of last years final criterium stage which ended in a bunch sprint.  The 50 mile circuit race had us scheduled for 4 loops on rolling country roads and then 10 laps of a 1.3 mile finishing circuit with a big climb and a technical descent.

Things started off as expected, Inferno let a group roll off the front to protect the sprint jersey.  With one big loop to go the weather took a turn for the worse.  Wind, rain, hail, lightening, you name it.  At one point the cross winds were strong enough to blow Bennett off the road and he is probably 185 lbs, our flyweight Chong managed to keep it upright by drafting off of my billboard ass.

The run back into town was pretty uneventful.  We did our best to escort Chris to the front so that he could be on the pointy end of the race when we hit the finishing circuits.  I think that the guys executed perfectly, and we looked like we had a clear purpose in the race.  Th finishing circuits were a right bitch.  they started with a short paved incline that took a slight left-hand bend onto a super steep brick climb.  It was not quite snake alley, but close.  The climb was followed by a false flat/rolling descent and finished with a super steep bumpy concrete downhill with a 180 degree turn at the base. 

I cracked pretty hard the first time up the climb, but toughed it out to finish in the top 50.  I actually felt better as the race went on, but whatever.

Overall the guys rode pretty well, with Chris being the most consistent.  He ended up 16th overall and 3rd in the collegiate standings.

John Rowley managed to hold on to his Cat 3 jersey, and Le TSK was second in the collegiate and points competition.  It was really great to race with these guys again.

After the race, we had Pizza and some beer.  Tank, Lemur and I ventured out to THE bar in Granville for a few more drinks.  Upon arrival, Bennett and a few friends of his stumbled out.  Me being the jackass that I am threatened Bennett with bodily harm, and fisticuffs nearly ensued. I "boxed" his ears a few times and even threw a leg kick at his head thinking that we were just screwing around.  He then grabbed my head and came away with my hat.  Walking away from me he refuses to give my hat back and is swearing at me.  I now realize that he didn't recognize me and I'm flat out lucky that he didn't flat out punch my lights out.  After calling him by name a few times he realized it was me and the hat and hugs were exchanged.

The trip back to MD was uneventful (other than a detour to krispy kreme, and cute waitstaff at Panera).