Last years GC win Written by Geoff Cooper.

The competition was astonished that yet again BPN, even without big guns Hoobler and Dissley, dominated the 35+4 Santa Fe Stage Race. Rob Kelly blistered the Saturday 20 mile time-trial to open a 41 second gap on Mix1's Gene Palumbo and a 59 second gap on BPN team-mate Geoff Cooper. Larry McLaughlin came in at 11th and David Niss in the top twenty. The course was pretty sweet starting in a town called Granada passing thru Bristol and turning at the ten mile mark. The problem was riding back into a very strong wind. Rob used his strength to lay down a time that would have been competitive in any of the categories. This finish set the scene for some very interesting tactical races to follow. Our BPN team had originally anticipated supporting Hoobs in a final showdown with Palumbo for the BAR championship. Hoobs untimely but well deserved promotion gave the BPN team members freedom to pursue their own finishes. What became apparent was that Palumbo and Doug Robison were still battling for the Rocky Mountain Cup. The BPN team became critical factors in determining this outcome. The Sunday road race was 72.5 miles of fairly flat terrain. No need to lay down a play by play, but it was a fairly fast race. Average speed of 23.87mph. The 4s and 35+4s rode together. The BPN plan was to keep Rob in the lead, haul back any breaks, have Rob make a break or at the very least stay with the lead group after a short tough climb at a dam just after half way, and keep a good hard pace for the last twenty miles to take the sting out of any late breaks or sprints. The finish was very exciting. Pretty much the whole field hammering on a slight downhill for about half a mile. The speed for the last ten miles had been pretty intense so there wasn't a lot of oomph in the legs. One rider came out of his cleats and there was a little bit of chaos. The first fifteen which included Rob took the same time. Gene Palumbo took first and a 30 second time bonus. Geoff Cooper took t hird and a ten second bonus. Larry finished 11th (same time) and David only fifteen miles from home called it a day with some others still behind him. So with Rob still ahead in the GC by 11 seconds it was mission accomplished by the BPN squad. Geoff now trailed by 49 seconds. Talk about drama for the crit. The crowd were at a fever pitch (and his dog seemed pretty excited as well). Again there were time bonus's for first, second, third (30, 20, 10). Rob needed to either beat Gene, stop him from finishing in the top 3, or if Gene finished in the top three, finish one place behind him with the same time (or a few more permutations - the bottom line was that is was going to be exciting). Again it was a rollicking fast course. Rob threw down the gauntlet with some shockingly powerful first circuits. He left no doubt that he had come to win the GC. Larry, ever the field general, took to the front when he thought Rob was maybe extending himself too far. This kicked Geoff to take a similar strategy. So for 40 laps this scenario continued. Rob on the front or near the front. Larry or Geoff coming from mid-pack or the back to pull for a lap or two, some other players taking a pull that would often result in a slower pace, apart from a $40 prem that Rob took on the line from Doug Robison. As we came thru lap 4 with Rob on the front, Larry shouted at Geoff to ride through the field and take the lead. Geoff responded and led lap 3, 2 and into the final lap. This pretty much handed the sprint finish to the Rio Grande team who had been sitting in Rob's slipstream for most of the race. Two of the m sprinted to the front with Gene following. Rob had the strength to hang onto Gene and finish 4th. Geoff and Larry finished 9th and 10th. The first 11 were given the same time. Gene got a 10 second time bonus. Rob wins the GC by 1 second! It was a superb effort. Geoff Cooper took third place in the GC. With Larry McLaughlin in 9th. The Rocky Mountain Cup drama between Gene Palumbo and Doug Robison (Amicas, Salida) was settled in the road race when Gene finished first and Doug fourth. They tied for points but Gene won on the number of wins he had garnered. This was a really fun stage race. The town was very enthusiastic about the event. The countryside was much more pastoral than one would imagine. The Arkansas runs right through town so most of the race was set in pleasant countryside on quiet roads of good quality. This was the Limar promoters first race, so there was some learning done, but hopefully it will be judged a success, and will be on the calendar next year. The BPN riders that were there would heartily recommend the event. Again, congratulations to Rob, it was a great effort!