With all my AP exams now behind me, I can take a bit of time to recount the events of this past weekend. The pairing of Coldsprings and the fairly new Sugar Cycles Criterium makes for an exciting first weekend in May. Although my team members from Austin may have a few unflattering nicknames for my hometown of Houston, I know that they do truly enjoy this weekend in early May.
Since the creation of Super Squadra, the team has stayed at casa Ting the night before Coldsprings. This year the Miu-dar (Miu is my dog’s name) picked up the Bicycle Sport Shop Sprinter van pulling into the street as the sun was setting over Spring, Texas. A plate of hot and authentic dumplings that I prepared earlier in the day greeted my Austin mates; special thanks to my sister for helping me wrap them. We scarfed down the meal and then found ourselves outside checking out my dad’s two 1970s muscle cars. After dumping a bit of CO2 into the atmosphere and oooing and ahhing, we were ready to settle in for the night in preparation for the next day.

An early morning ensued, and after a healthy stack of pancakes, we all rolled out further north of Houston towards Coldsprings. This race has always been one of my favorites; it holds a place in my heart as the origin of my first big road win. We rolled up to the start line knowing that we were one of the biggest teams at the race, and that we should be very attentive to get as many people in the breaks as possible.
The race rolled out quite quickly, and the entire team was doing a proper job of following wheels. Somewhere during the second to last lap, a break containing David, Ian, and I rolled off the front. Steven bridged up Han style, and hit the gas over the top of the finish climb, building a sizable gap. This prompted Houston’s finest, Kevin Kremke to shoot out of the field, with Phil and a few other riders also in hot pursuit. This part of the race course was littered with follow cars and riders from multiple fields causing the field to hesitate in its chase. The break was able to solidify a race winning gap. Super Squadra battled Kremke up the final climb, with Kremke taking the win over Steven, who produced a solid sprint to contend with one of Texas’ fastest and nicest racers. Phil rolled in for 3rd with Peter Carey putting a solid ride for 4th.

After the race, we took the dreaded ride back to the car lot where we cleaned off, and Phil changed into his Houston approved outfit and underwear. The team sans myself headed off to Houston’s famed Saint Arnolds Brewery, where they consumed unhealthy amounts of root beer in order to prepare for our next day in Candyland.
The Sugarland Criterium is a very young race. However due to fantastic racing and a victory here last year via David Wenger, it was a race we came into with high ambitions. During the first five laps of the race, a break containing all 5 members of the team, and about 6 other riders formed creating the break of the day. The team worked hard to collect primes and wear down the other riders in the break. However, around 45 minutes into the race after going for a prime, I found myself out of the break with Steven, Phil, and a few other riders also soon coming out the back of the move. This left just David, Ian, Kremke, Ronnie Strange, Peter Carey, and Crosby up in the winning move. In the end, Strange took a solid win in front of a wonderful crowd, with Kremke coming in second, David taking third, and Ian sixth. We were a bit disappointed with the results, because at one point we had nearly half the riders in the break. However, congrats to Houston riders Strange and Kremke for showing us “what was up Houston”. With a Houston Grand rematch only a fortnight away, we look forward to having another go in the Bayou City.
Special shout out to pro rider Ben Swift (Swifty) who will be riding the Giro in just a few days. He has been both mine and Lawson’s favorite rider since the time he beat up on Lawson and I many years ago in rainy Wales. Lawson and I wish you the best of luck!