With a surplus of hungry #YOUTHS ready to get to the snacks, the team time trial was going to be one of the fastest junior SOL has seen. The team time trial is where the third rider’s time from each team counts as that team’s time. Essentially, if you finish first by 30 minutes, the time of the third person is the one that counts. This gives riders the decision to either ride at their own pace and go for personal glory, or work as a team to get the third person across the line as fast as possible.
Right off the start Charlie Black, Drew Cummins, and Wunger were the lead team. Right behind them was Reese Cummins and Grady Luyt. Over the Vasa CC Climb, the lead group started to pick up the pace, leaving the two in limbo, with Sage Day, Gwen Urbain, and Avery Sill hot on their tail.
On the special K, Wunger was struggling on his cross bike. He would hang with his teammates on the flats and then get dropped on the downhills. After bridging back on and getting dropped a few more times, he finally lost full contact with the group. Charlie Black dropped back and tried to pull him back but there was too much sand for Wunger to be able to hang on. It was around this time that Reese put the hammer down, dropped Grady, and shortened his gap to a mere 30 seconds.
Unfortunately, the trio of Norte girls took a wrong turn, leading to their disqualification from TTT points. With one of the strongest teams out of the race, it was going to be close. Also, Ethan Scott decided to join in on the fun and became the third member of Grady and Reese’ team.
Over the downhill leading up to the Boonenberg, the gap between Wunger and his teammates opened by 10 seconds. This gap only got bigger as they approached Anita’s hill. He still maintained his power and kept the gap between him and Reese consistent.
The two teams kept their paces up and rode to the finish with lots of room for snacks. Drew, Charlie, and Wunger’s team placed first, earling them 30 points. Reese, Grady, and Ethan placed second earning them 25 points, and the Norte girl’s team, despite taking a wrong turn, were awarded 23 points for a valiant effort.
In the Overall, Wunger is in first with 50 points, Drew Cummins and Charlie Black arew tied for second with 49 points, and Reese Cummins is in third with 43 points. Next week is CX night, meaning that anyone brave enough to shred some skinny tires and drop bars will get double points and a single speed CX bike will get triple points.
The Junior SOL standings are right here.