Today was the day. Standing in the tower at the finish of the Morgul Bismark Road Race calling the action for so many great and valiant riders who signed up to crush or be crushed on one of the most famous circuits in USA Road Racing history, it was a realization of yet another dream. The likes of Bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond, Andy Hampsted, Davis Phinney, Alexi Grewal, Dale Stetina and Jeannie Longo have all competed on this exact stretch of asphalt on a course that has made and broken so many warriors. The people were there, and we all cheered, and screamed and showered applause on the combatants. It was simply amazing to be a part of. Both of the pro fields, men and women saw successful breakaways determine their champions. For nearly the entirety of the 80 miles in the Men's race, Nathan Wilson and Austin Allison were clear, until with just a couple of K left, Wilson attacked like Seal Team 6 on "the Hump" and got the gap needed to put a huge notch on his bed post.
In the women's race, the weekends most courageous rider in many of our minds, Catherine Johnson had to take body blows from two Primal/MapmyRide riders in the break, for the second day in a row, but still managed to take a very close second place on the day after a third place finish on day one. Kasey Clark took the victory with the decisive move coming on the fifth and final climb at "The Wall".
Many of today's races were decided right at the line at the top of "The Wall", with the 45+ field having the top three riders separated by two seconds, it was SICK.
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