Nevada City Classic Race Report

From Graham Howard:

Sven and I flew in to Reno to meet Burke and Omer for the Nevada City Classic, a race described to Sven and I as the hilliest crit ever and also, not surprisingly, as the only crit that Burke has ever won. Neither Sven, Omer or I had done the race before, but we liked everything we heard. That night we went out for dinner where Sven wowed the locals and won the first challenge of the week - eating six, count 'em SIX 1/2lb burgers. Properly fueled up we retired for the evening at the National Hotel in Nevada City. The race the following day was in the evening so the four of us got out in the morning for a short spin. We all lined up hoping to set Burke up for another Nevada City Classic win, but the Ninja was a little under the weather having recieved a tetanus shot just a day or two earlier and pulled out feeling ill. Sven flatted two laps in and with no free lap his race was over as well. Ninjaless and sprinterless Omer and I had to put something together on our own. By mid race Justin England (Toyota) and Scott Nydam (BMC) were twenty seconds in front of the group containing Omer and and with little help from other riders, Omer was unable to bring the two back. England and Nydam stayed out front to take first and second while behind Omer kept the pace high which allowed me to take the sprint for third. All in all we were happy with the day, though with a sprinter with aired tires and a healthy Ninja, I think we would have been a couple of steps higher on the podium.