Rahsaan Bahati and team setting the tempo.
Roger Millikan Memorial Crit
By Rahsaan Bahati
As some already know, Roger Millikan became close to my family and me soon after I started bike racing at the age of 11. Chad, his son, and I became good friends. Often times, we traveled together to races, and more times than none, had to compete against one another on the Velodrome. So this race was very special as we raced in Roger’s honor and memory.
After the last 2 weeks of getting 5th place, I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder, and I wanted to prove to myself I could win a bike race.
With most of the major SoCal teams present, I had a feeling this could be a day that a break could get away.
KHS-P/B Maxxis was present, along with Spy/Giant, Socal Cycling, Serious Cycling, and a few Predator guys. The plan was simple, watch the front and don’t be lazy!
The first 30 minutes of the race for me took forever to pass by. I had really bad legs; it felt as if my wheels were rubbing. However, I had to lead by example and “not be lazy”. So I did the best I could to cover moves that looked serious, and so did all of my guys. Steven Salazar has been our best guy this season, and he rode very well.
One thing I have preached to the guys is to make moves without having to think. If it feels like a natural reaction, then it’s probably a good move. I was really excited to have Christian, Justin, Arturo and Bret be a part of the race. When those guys attacked and the field reacted, it was a good feeling; the feeling of knowing they do not take us for granted.
In the closing laps, I expected Cory’s team of KHS to really pick up the speed and blow the field apart as they have done in the past. However, they were really hesitant with taking the font too soon, and that created some nervous times as the speeds were slower.
Going into bell lap, the “blue train” of KHS had the speed pretty high with 5 guys on the front and me sitting 6th wheel. After the start/finish line, they lost a guy; now I was only 5 guys back with a lap to go. After turn 1, they lost another guy. Now Cory only had 2 guys to take him to the finish. As we sprinted down the backside, Aaron Wimbley of Spy/Giant did a surprise attack on the left hand side, which made KHS accelerate to the screams of Justin Williams. As we entered turn 3, KHS was down to 2 guys with me sitting 3rd and Justin Williams on my wheel.
These were nervous times for me as Justin has proven to have good closing speed lately, and he showed that by winning the first race of the season. As we started the sprint out of the 3rd turn, I knew I had a sweet spot with only 2 guys ahead of me and a downhill cross/head wind sprint. As we came out of the last turn, I went to my baby gear (I’m on a compact crank right now) and started my sprint. I wanted to go left, as did Cory, because the wind was coming from the right; however, when Cory’s teammate David Santos pulled off, I didn’t trust that he would give me a clean line so I went the hard way around. This proved to be a great move on my part because Justin had the same idea to go left. He took the risk, which cost him dearly; he got boxed in between Cory, Santos and the curb.
I got about 50m from the line, looked between my arms and knew I had it. The Bahati-WTR boys got their first win of the season, and we expect many more.
Thanks for reading.
Sweet Victory!
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