November 2, 2007 - USGP 1&2 Cross

Matt White wrote the following race reports and there is a good but mislabeled picture of Jamey Driscoll on cyclingnews.com

Driscoll 2nd U23 and White 6th Elite at Derby City USGP Round 1, Louisville Kentucky – October 27

After some really long travel days and delayed flights, the Fiordifrutta Team arrived safely in Louisville and was picked up by our very gracious host Olivia Jaras. It was Friday night, so no course preview or opening up rides were planned, just a hearty sandwich and a dark beer at the local tap house, and of course a root beer for Toby, we know he loves that stuff. I had seen the course already, as I got there a day earlier than the other boys, and did my best to describe the features of an abandoned golf course to my team mates.

It had been raining all week in Louisville, but for better or worse, a golf course is designed to the drain well, so when the sun broke out on Friday afternoon, and Sat was dry but overcast, we knew the course would be greasy at best. No slop fest, that's for sure, but the wet ground slicked things up and gave the advantage to the technically gifted. Michelin Muds were the tire for the day, needed all the traction we could get.

So Jamey and I lined up on the second row, a great place to start. When the starting pistol shot, I found myself on Jamey's wheel through the first half of the twisting course. We were falling off the front group or Powers, Johnson, Wick and Trebon, and we leading the second group, with Jones, Craig, and Wells. It was early in the race, and I decided to not let the pace fall for a second, preventing more guys from joining our group. I went to work at the front, splitting us up a bit.

The only guy left for me to catch was Jessy Anthony, who dangled solo in between the distant first group and our group, and with the assistance of Adam Criag, we reeled him in and dropped him off. Jamey lost us at some point, and was caught by his fiercest competitor in the U23 race, Danny Summerhill. This promised to be an exciting race. The two younglings also had in tow everyone’s favorite wheel sucker "Jazzy" Myerson. After many attacks by Driscoll, Summerhill forced a sprint, which he unfortunately won. The results were White 6th, Driscoll 15th, Marzot 41st.

Driscoll 5th U23 and White 8th Elite at Derby City USGP Round 2, Louisville Kentucky – October 28

Things dried out a bit on Sunday, which produced a faster race than Saturday’s. Same starting positions produced a similar first lap order. But a crash mid lap, in the sand pit, involving Powers and Wicks, changed the dynamic of the first 3rd of the race. At the start of the second lap, I found myself pacing off Powers as he made the effort to charge back to the front group.

I may have stuck him for 2 or 3 laps, before I felt like I was choking on my own lung, and had to fall off the pace. I was riding solo in 5th for some time, with a broken up group of chaser behind, somewhere containing my team mate Jamey. I continued my solo pacing for the rest of the day to finish 8th, being passed by Adam Craig early and Jesse Anthony in the last lap or racing. Jamey finished an uncharacteristic 24th place, and Toby finished 40th.