Local race promoter, Jean Lacroix of Sparta Synergy put on a race weekend at Thunder Road in Barre, VT on June 23rd and 24th. Events included individual and team time trials as well as a "points" race. Thunder Road is a half-mile, banked tracked that plays host to local stock car junkies during the summer months. This was the second race Jean had organized. Many racers in the area attended the first race with some hesitancy, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. I encouraged the rest of the Burris Logistics – Fit Werx squad to attend the second race to show our support for Jean and to experiment with this style of racing.

Here is Stephen Taylor's report from the time trials:

"In the ITT I felt quite good and managed to avoid a terrible anaerobic/aerobic transition by warming up vigorously on a trainer before taking the line.  My laps were quite consistent, and I finished strong, just 3 seconds behind Taylor H, my perennial nemesis.  I was fourth overall, behind Taylor, Adam Carr, and of course Bobby.  Bruce and I rode the TTT and finished third.  Transitions were a little tricky on the TT bikes, but we rode reasonably tight and strong considering our lack of experience with that.  Claude and John put in an amazing ride on their road bikes only a second or so slower per lap!"

Stephen went on to win the B Division's points race on Sunday.

"The B-race was huge fun for me.  It was closely contested;  there were no earnest  efforts to establish a break, only solo flyers to get points.  I had thought about trying to break mid-way, but found myself getting points steadily from the first sprint.  Andre took that one by a mile, but then seemed to fade out of contention.  And Cooper got a nice gap going for a couple laps, but I bridged to him just in time and then stole his candy.  (I confess I felt a little bad about that, but not for long). The points seemed to be spread around, and I did not realize one other guy was also accumulating a lot.  By the end I had won two and scored in five others, and the two of us wound up tied with 21 points.  There was talk of a duel lap, but thankfully, Jean left it a tie!"

I knew the A-race would be difficult, but we had a good group of guys to contest it. I was fairly successful in the first Thunder Road show down so I had some confidence. However, there were about 5 local fast guys present for this one that did not attend the first one.

The race began and after three laps, knowing I had no chance at out sprinting anyone, I jumped and took off hoping to get a gap and hold it for two laps.  Apparently it wasn't a great jump because some well positioned riders sprinted around me as we hit the line on the 5th lap. Points were accrued every fifth lap.

After that, the inevitable happened: Local strong man, Bobby Bailey of 1K2GO Sports launched what would be his first of two times lapping the field. I knew this was coming, but I did not stay on his wheel like I had planned. He stayed away for awhile and racked up plenty of points before lapping the field for the first time. I had a suspicion that he would do it again, so I positioned myself right behind him.

Sure enough, about half way through the race he went again. I stayed on his wheel. My heart rate was pinned at the max. Three other riders managed to follow me and we established a nice break. We stayed away for maybe 10 laps before lapping the field. At that point it was just a matter of sprinting for the last remaining points of the day.

Bobby took the win by a landslide. Many of the Burris Boys got some points and a great workout. Jean was happy with the turnout and will hopefully continue to create and promote great local racing. Special thanks goes to our sponsor, Fit Werx for also sponsoring this race.

Mike Burris