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Cycling Mon Mar 28 2011
Gapers Block Crits: Team TATI stands out
The Gapers Block Criterium series came to a close Friday after five bitter cold nights of racing in Calumet Park. The series is great practice for beginning and intermediate racers to gain experience before the season picks up. As many first-time racers as first-time road racers came out to the crits, with familiar faces from other cycling disciplines lining up on the start.
The women's category 4 field was hotly contested. Racers were battling it out for enough overall points to win a Hulot Frame courtesy of TATI Cycles in Hyde Park, and TATI's women's team dominated the races in both numbers and strategy. Its four main riders tried attack after attack, breaking from the pack and whatever their "Platoon" strategy was to win four out of five nights of the women's category 4 races. The competition for the frame came down to the final night, when Katie Isserman of Bellum Racing earned the most overall points by winning Friday's race, added to three previous second-place finishes.
The men's category 4/5 races saw more mixed results. On Monday the men had two full heats, but participation waned as the temperature dropped. Cesar Hernandez of Play it Again Sports Cycling braved the cold and worked his way to three consecutive wins in the second men's heat.
Click here for full race results.
Huge thanks to Half Acre Cycling for organizing the series and to the volunteers who bundled up and came out every night.
