Red Hook Crit
Barcelona: Epilogue
Round Three of the Red Hook Criterium is in the books, and this time, Team Specialized x Rocket Espresso were headed to Barcelona. Of course, Manual for Speed was one step behind, cameras in tow. Read on to see what the Doctors of Journalism had to say about how it all went down in Barcelona.It seemed that the stars were aligned for the men of Team Specialized x Rocket Espresso as they lined up to race the final in Barcelona. All four riders had qualified for the main and were riding strong. There was a feeling, a vibe, that this was going to be the team’s race. Alec Briggs and Stefan Schafer qualified with ease in heat one, the duo coming in second and third giving them plenty of time to rest their legs before the grand finale. In heat two, Eamon did what Eamon does and hammered his way to first place. The gauntlet, as they say, had been thrown down. As for the fourth? Aldo had returned. He was back and racing in Barcelona, and if his form and antics were any indication, he hadn’t skipped a beat since Brooklyn. But the God of Speed needed to be sure and decided to test his metal. During qualifying, Aldo dropped his chain at full speed, and with no way to slow down, he took aim at the nearest barrier. Fortunately, he has both the reflexes AND the speed of cat and managed to do a perfect somersault, gracefully flipping over the barrier and landing on his feet. Perhaps all the wakeboarding is beginning to pay off? His points from Brooklyn automatically qualified him to race the last chance qualifier, and having the appeased the God of Speed, Aldo didn’t disappoint and took the win.
And while the men prepared for the final, Carla Nafría took her place on the starting grid. She wasn't happy with her eighth place in qualifying and started the race with fire in her eyes. This year the course at Barcelona had been changed and became substantially more technical, and come finals, the riders were still trying getting comfortable with the layout. The number of corners meant that racers would need to be very smart about how and when they put in hard efforts. In order to have any chance at the win, riders needed to maintain a position near the front of the pack. The serpentine course, however, caused the peloton to pinch and distend, and as the race moved along it, racers found it increasingly difficult to move up through the pack. Unfortunately, Carla fell victim to the difficulties of the course, and while she was riding strong, it seemed that luck wasn’t on her side with a 10th place finish the most she could muster in front of a friendly crowd of fellow Spaniards. By most accounts, a top 10 finish at Red Hook would be a dream come true, but for Carla, it only adds more fuel to the fire. She has her mind set on the top of the podium and there's no doubt that Milan is going to be one hot race.
The men’s race was just brutal, attack after attack after attack after attack with Team Specialized x Rocket Espresso team doing their fair share of covering the breaks. These continual attacks kept the pace in the final high and was only made more difficult by a breeze pushing in off the Mediterranean. The laps ticked off and fatigue set in with riders blowing up and falling off the pace like sailors abandoning a ship on fire. With four laps to go, Team Specialized x Rocket Espresso stacked the front of the field hoping to control the pace and to position Alec Briggs for a chance to take the win. But the stars don’t stay aligned forever. First, it was Aldo to drop and he pulled out of the race completely gassed. Was he finally feeling the effects of his gymnastic routine? Just a few laps later, Schafer hit the deck, splintering the field.
Despite all of this, Alec was still in contention coming into the last turn. And with a podium finish all but assured, he opted to take a chance and go for the win. But it wasn’t to be. Cutting hard to take the inside line, he overcooked the final corner, which caused his front wheel, and a podium finish, to disappear out from under him. Even with a pulverized field, Eamon was able to put in a strong finish and negotiate the broken detritus of bike and body to salvage 10th overall.
This wasn’t the result that the team had hoped for, but after it was all said and done, the team had left everything on the track and there's no fault to be found in that. With the race over, the party was just getting started and oh my does Barcelona know how to party. Barca, we love you, and you can be sure we’ll see you again next year.