CRAIG FULK TAKES THE WIN @ MANDA ( AUSTIN, TX )

I think it was the second lap, in the tailwind section, I looked back to Thomas Luton with Lone Star Racing ( LSRC ) and said lets go. We were 53/12 uphill drilling it and immediately opened a sizable gap. We were joined by Brent Wells from Bicycle-Heaven. The three of us hit it and stayed away just shy of one full lap. As we were about to be caught by the field, I attacked again.

I stayed away quite a while before being caught by Brent. He thought I needed company. After 3-4 miles we were caught by another rider. Now we had three in the break. I looked back and saw the pack was closing in and was nothing of the size it was when we started. That made me feel even better to have missed the gutter fest that had to be going on with the high winds that day. Eventually, we were caught. With 1.5 laps to go, Matthew Kessing went to the front and just drilled it in the gutter during the crosswind run. OUCH. People were popping left and right. I was sitting 6th wheel, when 2 riders right in front of me popped and left a sizable gap. I had to close it knowing that the race could very well be decided right there.

We are now down to one lap to go and things started to settle down. I had marked the riders I felt could do the job...either bringing someone back or in the sprint. I think we were down to 15 in the field now. For the last 5 miles or so of the race, I was running through how I was going to win this thing. I decided it was going to be the sprint and not another solo attempt. I thought about how it would go down...how it looked and how would I make it there first. Everything played out exactly as I thought it would. An attack from Kessing on the last corner came. Luton and myself covered it. Coming into the final 1000m I was sitting in sheltered from the wind to the left of 4 riders and very close to the yellow line.




At 400m the road opened up for sprinting. Accelerations came up the left ( legally over the line ) as I had expected. I was immediately able to attach and roll with the accelerations to 300m. At 300m, it was on.


Out of the saddle and driving it hard all the way to the line. With about 25m to go, all the cards were played and I was left holding the winning hand.



It was a hard fought race with a very sweet ending.

Wheels choice for the day was Williams Wheels Full Carbon 58 tubies with Vittoria Evo Tech tires.

Thanks to Velossimo Racing from Austin Texas for putting on another great racing weekend in Central Texas. Thanks Karl for the great pics.