Southern Arizona Omnium Race Report (Gary)

by Gary Schobel

Time Trial

Another good weekend of racing, a time trial on Saturday a road race on Sunday.

Saturday morning one the drive out for the TT I just had a feeling it was going to be a good morning. The wind was a little stronger than what I would have liked and the clouds look like they could be carrying a little bit of rain, but I just had this feeling that I was going to do well. Meeting up with the team getting our numbers and encouragement from my teammates is indescribable.

One by one we took off on the 20 km time trial course, hoping to catch the guy 30 seconds ahead of you and praying you're not caught by the guy 30 seconds behind you. It was tough going on the way out. The winds were 15 mph in the south-southwest. The hard effort on the way out was definitely paid back with it as a tailwind on your way in. I reached the turnaround in 20 minutes, 20 seconds and made it back to the finish in 11 minutes. I crossed the finish line at just over 32 mph. I finished the 20k in 31:20, which put me in third place for the cat 5 category. It was my first time finishing in a podium position. What a great feeling!

Road Race

​Second day was a road race. It was an early start. We rolled out at 7:25 a.m. I was so excited to be one of the five IC3 members racing in the Cat 5 category. I felt I started in a good position to start the race. By the end of the first lap I was falling towards the back of the pack. Just before reaching the finish line of the first lap I heard Buzz from the sidelines yelling, "get up in there!" The second third and fourth lap went much better. I stayed in the top 6. I thought I was playing it smart conserving as much energy as I could. End of the fifth lap on the final hill climb I just didn't have enough left in the legs. I fell from 6th to 14th finishing side by side with Greg.

There was a lot to learn in this road race. I look forward to using it in the next road race. Now that my work was done, it was time to enjoy watching Michael and Buzz race the course with one extra lap. Buzz led Michael out for a ninth place finish. I am so proud to be part of the IC3 Tucson race team.