New York, NY

Univest Grand Prix UCI 1.2 Souderton, PA

Competing in this year's Univest for the CRCA/Sakonnet Technology U25
team were Jon Swain, Peter Horn, Lee Rosenthal, Chris Kuhl, and myself.
Chris and I flew in from Durango, Jon from Indianapolis, Peter drove down
from Poughkeepsie and LeeRo zipped down the Jersey turnpike from Long
Island.

This was the first time most of us had attended this race and we were not
quite sure what to expect. We knew it was an extremely difficult event, and
after pre-riding sections of the course the day before, we could see why.

The race consists of one large, 100 km circuit followed by twelve, 5 km circuits.
The course is constantly rolling with very few flat sections and some climbs
being extremely steep and difficult. Add to this the constant twist and turns
of the roads. Chris made that comment that this race would be "staying at
the front 101".

The day began under warm, humid conditions and cloudy sky's. The pace
was quick but manageable until we neared the first KOM of the day. LeeRo
was designated to follow an early break and was never more than a few
riders deep, ready to go.

Several kilometers to the base of the climb, the field began to string out and
the race was about to begin in earnest. A group of 12 broke away from the
field going over this first climb. Unfortunately, no Sakonnet riders were
represented and we knew we had to help keep the pace high and follow
moves to attempt to join the break or bring it back.

Shortly after the second KOM, Peter and Jon took turns pulling at the front
with several other teams to keep the pace up. Peter, unfortunately
experienced a mechanical problem and was unable to rejoin the race.
I was able to follow several moves before the circuits, however none stuck.

Entering the circuits, the gap to the break hovered at just over a minute.
At this point, Chris, Lee, and myself remained in the field as the speeds
increased. After 3 blistering laps, the gap to the break had come down
to under 40 seconds and attacks started to shatter what was left of the
field.

Chris did a great effort pulling to the base of the climb to keep the pace
high before he dropped. Shortly after, Lee dropped off the pace as well,
completing the majority of the circuits.

I did the best I could to get away from the ever-dwindling field and placed
several attacks and followed many moves. In the end though, none of the
breaks lasted for more than several laps. In the end I finished in 41st place.

This race was surprisingly difficult, but was a great showing and a team-effort
by the young Sakonnet riders. We look forward to increasing our presence
and success next year.

Special thanks goes out to Sparta for inviting us, our managers Dave and
Mike Chauner and to our help in the feed-zone which was provided by CRCA
Director of Open Racing Mike Green.

Andy