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Clear skies, warm temperatures, and a light wind accompanied the 70-plus rider field in the Downtown Raleigh Criterium. The town itself has one of the fastest-growing business populations in the United States, and the bright colors of the Channel 11 news ticker added to the bright downtown lights. The race was stung out from the whistle as everyone seemed motivated to make the early move. The local racers really wanted to lead the diverse pack through the six corner course, however, riders were already put on the defensive in the opening laps and were left trying to keep up with the more experienced racers, say Tim Henry for example.

Every early move, successful and not, had one if not two Jittery Joe’s riders in it. Once the coffee attacks had come and gone, Tim found his way into the move that went and didn’t come back. The break included riders from teams such as AEG-Toshiba, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Alliance Environmental. The night race couldn’t hide the fire and aggression in Tim’s eyes, as Tommy and Cody made sure nothing left the dock back at bay. A four-man chase spent quite some time in no man’s land, but their motivation whittled quickly once Tim’s group made contact with the field. Tommy and Cody then put their skills to work, grabbed Tim and took him from the back to the front in a lap or less in order to keep him safe. We had the most recognizable train in the race, making orange now the most sought after kit colors. Maybe next year we could put a little tiger paw on the sleeve.

(Tiger Rag interlude)

Sorry GA fans. With 7 laps to go, Jittery Joe’s and AEG were riding neck and neck, each trying to beat the other into turn one. If you were there, you would have felt the excitement as the spectators cheered louder and louder as the laps went by. Carbon wheels banged and chains clapped into and out of the corners. Heads were down, racers showed their teeth, and nervousness caused a tightening of grip on the handlebar drops. With one to go the crowd was deafening as downtown Raleigh brought the riders into the final lap. No one was moving up after turn one so you can imagine the spectators there took a few steps back. Behind the 6 Series BMW lights came the AEG train that dropped Frank Travieso off at the station first, and Tim brought everyone else home for 2nd. What no one knows is that Tim was actually going faster than Frank because he was closing a gap in the last 100 meters. Watch out for this guy this Summer and in the next few years as he was able to get this fit while finishing up his senior year at Georgia State. National and regional racers alike should lose sleep after reading this.

Introducing Tim Henry!

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