Bouchard wins NYS Cat 4 Criterium Championship, Scaduto 3rd

A long drive into the Adirondacks pays off. Beautiful scenery, great weather, and a french style cafe directly overlooking turn 1 set the scene for a great weekend for TBS in Saranac Lake, NY.

First, let's give a shout out to the women / juniors that raced. Parker Polston raced in the Junior Girls Under 12 race and did 8 hard laps (a little easier once dad reminded her she can shift into easier gears!). Morgan Lorenz jumped into the Womens Cat 4 / Junior 15-18 fields, held ground in the lead pack until lap 4 when she flatted her back wheel and had a hugging session with the padded wall on turn 1. Despite popping back up to try and continue, she realized the flatted wheel was why she lost control and couldn't continue. Tough break, but there will be plenty more racing to come from her. Meanwhile in the Womens cat 4 Tricia hung with the pack to finish strong.

The main event for TBS this weekend was the Mens Cat 3/4 race. Craig, Rich, and Tim had eyes on the Cat 4 jersey with a possible consolation of getting a Cat 3 jersey if the stars aligned. 30 laps on deck for this race which would amount to about 17 miles, it was going to be over quick.

On the first lap Craig drove the front at 28mph and the entire group (including Tim) was strung out one by one. After that cooled down, Rich moved to the front to counter the slowed pace. Tim had found his way back into the top 10 and stayed there for the remainder of the race outside of one quick bridge to a failed break away. There was already a stud cat 3 junior from Vermont up the road, he would eventually lap the field just before the finish, not a concern of TBS going for NY bragging rights.

The race continued with a few attacks by Rich and Craig, including all 3 prime wins. Other racers were filling the attacking gaps when TBS wasn't trying it. Tim sat in following wheels. Craig moved to the front with 4 laps to go, he stayed there each lap. Entering the 2nd to last lap Rich moved up the right side of the group and Tim followed, they went right to the front into 2nd and 3rd behind Craig. The officials just dropped the lap card from 3 to 1 laps trying to avoid the leader interrupting the finishing sprint. This ended up causing a crash mid-pack. The 3 powered along, Craig pulled up the slow riser on the back side of the course, Rich took over at the crest out of turn 2, Rich and Tim dove into turn 3 1st & 2nd and the sprint let out. Tim was passed by two cat 3's from VT (including another awesome junior) and was left to sprint against one other NY racer. Tim held him off to the line by half a wheel! Turns out that was a cat 3 NY rider.

The great team leadout earned Tim a 4th overall, 1st Place Cat 4 Overall & all NY Riders (including the Cat 3s). With Rich's effort he still ended up 7th Overall & 3rd in the NY Cat 3s!

A fun weekend out for the team yet again gets some results too!

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