BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 28, 2017– First of all, let me apologize, as we had vehicle problems today. The Red Bull car shut down at the roundabout on the return, and so we could not video the finish. As a consequence, I will only give the top 10.
The race started at first light at 6:00 a.m. with a field of 37 riders and a strong Weekend Warriors (WW) presence today. Like last week, the race started fast and furious in a hard head wind.
By the time we got to Old Belize, a 5-man break had formed with 3 brand-name riders representing 3 different teams: Ernest “Peenie” Bradley of Digicell, Brandon Cattouse of Smart, and Byron Pope of Benny’s Megabytes, along with 2 Juniors, Eric Heusner and Carlton Robinson. By Hattieville, this 5-man squad had out the peloton by about a mile.
When we turned at Hattieville, we had a nice tailwind, and so the peloton tried hard to catch these 5 bandidos sustaining speeds into the 30’s at times. However, the chase was not organized, and there were too few willing to work, so we fell short by about 100 meters.
However, much credit has to be given to Herman “Hijo” Requeña, who attacked the peloton with about 2 miles to go, and bridged a 30-second gap all alone, catching the 5 front runners at the Chetumal Street roundabout, which is exactly 1 kilometer from the finish line.
In that 6-man sprint, the results were as follows: 1st – Ernest “Peenie” Bradley (dethroning Brandon in the sprint today); 2nd – Brandon Cattouse; 3rd – Byron Pope; 4th & 1st Junior – Eric Heusner (Joshua Fuller was also dethroned); 5th – Herman “Hijo” Requeña; 6th – Carlton Robinson (Junior rider).
About 100 meters later, the MASSIVE FIELD SPRINT ensued: 7th & 1st “A” – The Black Rocket again (Palas); 8th – Warren Coye (Santino’s); 9th & 1st “B” – Chief; 10th – Leroy Cassasola.
Next week again, guys! Let’s get it up to 40 riders…