LTO Sweeps Sprint Events at Cal/Nevada state championships.
>> Monday, August 31, 2009
LTO takes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in both the Sprints and Keirin. Also a team win in the Olympic Sprint, and 1st and 2nd in the 1000meter Time Trial.
Hot weather saturday for the kilo and sprints. If 105deg weather seams warm to you then you weren't watching the hot hot races. The days started out with the 1000 Meter Time trial ("kilo"). LTO racers Pete Billington and Giovanni Rey were contesting a strong field of both new and veteran racers. A flock of jnr racers from Team San Jose and Team Specialized with modest starts and scorching fast finishes were crowding the score board at 1:10 and 1:11 reminding the favorites to take the race seriously. The final 3 riders to go were Giovanni, Larry Nolan (specialized masters), and Pete. A nice steady ride for Giovanni cracked the score board with a 1:09 ... immediately followed by the kilo master, and all around animal Larry Nolan who fell just a hair short at 1:10. This left Pete to ride. The solid start and awe inspiring top speed coming around for the first of 3 laps make it clear that this was going to be good. 1:08. The final was Pete 1st, Giovanni 2nd, Larry 3rd.
Early round keirins showcased the the riders to watch. LTO sprinters Pete and Giovanni were joined by teammate Sam Milroy in the event, all making it to the final. Dave McCook, Steve Peleaz, Nick Harter, Brian Peterson and Rick Adams showed good form and savy riding to also make to the final with the LTO riders. From the start things were interesting... Giovanni was immediately challenged by Dave McCook for the motor. Giovanni however had the advantage of the inside starting spot and Dave relented. Making room for Pete Billington to slide up the outside and take the motor away from Giovanni. Sam then also move up and settled into a spot 2 abreast with LTO teammates establishing an iron grip on the front. The pace motorcycle then ramped the field up to race starting speed of 33mph and Dave McCook immediately attack trying to break up the LTO stronghold on the front and pushing the pace up over 40mph. Pete countered Dave's move and accelerated to a tire blistering speed leaving the field in chaos pushing and shoving for drafts behind him. By the final corner it was all LTO. Pete followed by Giovanni followed by Sam. Giovanni and Sam push forward a bit to challenge Pete to the line, but the honors and the glory belong to Pete today. An outstanding ride.
The next event, Team Sprint, saw some dramatic weather changes. The heat was still on, but now so was the wind. Wind gust were pushing riders back and forth all over the track. This timed event required maximal efforts from all 3 LTO sprinters to work together for a collective time. Sam led the first leg followed by Pete and Giovanni anchored. Sam destroyed the start showing truely amazing acceleration leaving Pete and Giovanni's lungs and legs burning with anticipation for their shot at living up to the lead out that Sam had handed them. The result was 1:07.4 on a wind blown chaotic ride over the 1010meter course.. This had to stand up to a challenge from Allen Vigrincic, Jeff Solt, and Marzio Sandaval. The final: LTO 1st. Vigrincic/Solt/Sandoval 1.08 second.
Day 2 of racing was "just" sprints on a pleasantly "cool" 92degree day. The honor of being #1 qualifier went to sprinting legend Jeff Solt with 11.39. A blink behind him were Giovanni followed by Sam and Pete from LTO Velo (11.4, 11.4, 11.5 respectively). Behind them was Allen, Nick, Josh, and the rest of the field. Jeff got a bye on round 1, Giovanni and Sam advanced relatively easily. However, Pete was close enough to the middle of the seeding order for a challenging and exciting ride against Allen. Pete wins with dominant and powerful move around the outside of the last corner. Round 2 put Pete against Jeff, and Sam against Giovanni. Again Pete wins with a big move around the outside routing the #1 qualifier. Giovanni wins from the front against Sam, just barely holding off a last second charge to the line. This put Pete and Giovanni in the ride off for gold/silver and Sam and Jeff in the ride off for bronze. This last round is best of 3 race matchup. Sam controls and bests Jeff in 2 straight with perfectly executed rides from the front. Both times leading into the last lap with a controlled and watchfull effort before unleashing out of corner 2 and accelerating dramatically all the way to the finish line. The story was the same in first ride between Giovanni and Pete with Giovanni taking it. The final ride for gold saw something different. Giovanni, drawing the lead, forced Pete to the front early by back pedaled hard. Pete took the front and then some. Driving hard and leaving Giovanni flat footed and well behind him with 600 meters to go. It was a nail bitter for the next lap as both riders balanced the need to close/extend the gap with the risk of not having the enough gas to contest the final run to the line. At the 200meter mark, however, the race resolved itself with Giovanni charging hard through the remaining gap and Pete unalbe to manage a second acceleration to match him. Giovanni 1st, Pete 2nd, Sam 3rd.
Wish the guys luck with one more month of hard training before Sam, Pete, and Giovanni meet up with 4rth teammate Steve Hill in Los Anglese for the Elite National Track Championships.
