The Virgin Islands Cycling Federation (VICF) concluded its 2018 season with a weekend of championship races. On Saturday, a small group of cyclists raced the clock in a test of shear speed on a 16-mile out-and-back time trial course on St. Croix’s South Shore Road. Sunday’s road race was a challenge of endurance as all three racing categories took on the longest distances of the season.
On the time-trial course, which went from the entrance to Ha’ Penny to the foot of Grassy Point and back, Ian Collins was the overall fastest rider in a time of 41:25. David Parris, also an Elite rider, was second in 43:06. Mikey Dizon-Bumann, a Good Hope Country Day School ninth grader, was third in 43:13.
On Sunday, the 50-mile Elite road race broke into two groups by the time they hit the Christiansted Bypass on their first lap. Stephen Swanton, Collins and Dizon-Bumann jumped ahead by 2 minutes as they headed into their second lap. Junior cyclist Dizon-Bumann pulled away smoothly while climbing Grassy Point but was matched on the other side by Swanton and Collins. They each made many small attacks until Dizon-Bumann suffered a flat near Blue Water Terrace and abandoned the race. With every surge, Collins hung onto Swanton’s wheel until Swanton made his final move on the second part of the Christiansted Bypass. Collins was unable to respond, which allowed Swanton to easily capture the gold trophy with a time of 2:35:56. Collins was second in 2:37:42. Jerry Remie, who rode consistently all season, lead the second group across the line for third place.
The small Expert group rode one big loop of the Suzie Q course, followed by a smaller loop through Southgate. John Harper and Ralph Bartlett worked together until they reached the Bypass for the second time. Harper rode away from Bartlett and finished the 40-mile race in 2:21:27. Bartlett crossed the line in 2:23:06.
James Meyers, Miguel Cruz and Olani Vanterpool rode together for the first lap of their 30-mile Sport race. Vanterpool lost his energy on the second lap while Meyers and Cruz pushed on. With .25 miles to go, Cruz flatted and Meyers established a solid win in a time of 1:48:49. Cruz ran his bike over the line for second place. Vanterpool finished one minute later in third place.
For more information about cycling in the Virgin Islands, write to vicfsecretary@gmail.com
