This was the second weekend for the Spring Fling criterium series in Lawrence.  Shawn Knight continued his dominance with a big win in the Cat4/5 event, to go with his strong showing on points from last week.  The numbers aren’t in quite yet, but it looks like “The Bat” is the man to beat in the series.  He has been right there in all the intermediate sprints, and took fourth last week in the series opener.  Here is his recap of the race:

“The race started off with a fast pace set by VeloTech from the whistle for about 5-6 laps with an average speed around 25 mph. After the pace slowed, members of Big D grouped and were ready for the first sprint. The wind was coming out of the NW and there would be a headwind for the sprint. The bell sounded for and the pace quickly picked up again. I was sitting in the pack with Whalen, Twan, John T and Ron close by. With the wind coming from right to left on the back strait, one rider jumped and no one wanted to chase. The field realized what had happened and attempted to cut the gap only to allow Ron and myself to be set-up for a head wind sprint. Ron lead me through the last right handed corner with 200 yards left for the line. I had a good cadence and put my head down and finished the sprint in second. We were not able to catch the lone break away rider.

Immediately after the sprint Twan broke off the front to attempt to break up the field, and it seemed to work. He almost dropped me as it was very difficult to hang onto the tail end of the group.

The bell rang for the second sprint, and I mentioned to Ron that this was set-up for him. Positioned behind a couple other riders, shielding himself from the wind, Ron rounded the final corner in second position and ended up third on the sprint.

Eight laps left into he race and it was Big D’s turn at the front. First, Whalen jumped on the inside on the back-side of the course making every one on the front panic and attempt to catch. The pace was quickly increasing, and as they caught Steve on the back stretch, the group came together and slowed, then it was Twan’s turn to go off the front and the same thing happened. With a couple laps left in the race, John T and Steve were planning a break, but Steve got boxed in and John was by himself. This was excellent for Big D because we did not have to chase and it made Velo Tech and other riders work harder. As they pulled John back, the bell rang for the final lap and everyone was fighting for position. Twan was in front of me, and Ron was positioned to the right, and Whalen and John T. were right behind me. On the back side of the course, as we were going through the “S” turns, one rider got pushed off the road and into the grass, but was able to stay upright. The race was approaching the back straight, and Big D was positioned perfectly. It was Twan, Ron, then myself on the left side of the pack, shielded from the wind by the other riders. The pack attempted to move to the left, but there was no room. Ron got pushed off the road and into the gravel, and made an excellent recovery to get back onto the road and only lost a couple pedal strokes in the process.

About 700 yards to go, Twan powered up his big diesel engine and accelerated with Ron on his wheel and me attempting to hang on. Twan got the three of us in the front of the main group with 450 yards and one corner left into he race. Ron Marney took over from there, powering his way into the corner with me attempting to stay on his wheel, but unfortunately, another rider cut in on my right side and had the inside line on the last right hand corner before the finish. Ron increased his speed through the corner and the other guy broke for his sprint at the apex. I came out of Ron’s draft and moved over behind the other rider with a high cadence in attempt to stay with the him. I put my head down with about 100 to go and I could see that I was gaining, but it was going to be close. With about 20 yards left I had more speed and was even with the other rider and took the victory by less than a bike length.

Ron Marney held on for 3rd place. It was a great race for Big D, and I could not have done it with out the help of my awesome teammates.

Afterward, a member from another team was talking about how well Big D worked together for the victory, and that they wish they could get members of their team to do the same thing.

Again I would like to thank John T, Steve W, Twan and Ron for their hard efforts in getting Big D to the top of the Podium.”

Race pace: 24 mph for 44 minutes.

Shawn’s average HR: 170 bpm

Max speed:  36 mph