Zeeland Crit Race Report

Jul 14

Written By AAVC

Tyler Trask in the dusky light

This year’s Zeeland Criterium took place on the same turn-filled course as last year with hot temperatures even with the twilight start times. The race is a lesser-known crit but draws serious competition, as it is the night before the well-known Herman Miller crit and only a short drive away in the small West Michigan town of Zeeland. The course and its many turns took its toll on the Cat 3/4 mixed field where all of AAVC’s representation was. After an unfortunate line-up, Tyler Trask and Stephen Doll were in the back of the large field of approximately 70 riders. With Tyler working to give Stephen the chance to reach the end of the 45 minutes ready for a sprint, the two fought to gain position in the field. After 15 minutes of hard effort, Tyler seemed to be out of gas and signaled for Stephen to lead the charge. Shortly after, an opposing rider bumped Stephen going into a fast 90 degree turn, causing him to crash and forcing him to abandon the race. Tyler managed to avoid the crash with some crafty bike handling and rode on alone. Meanwhile, Matt Ronan and Jarod Winn had started in better position and were facing their own problems, with the second crash of the race forcing Ronan into the grass and out of the main pack and eventually forcing them to abandon the race. After a total of three crashes and a fast field, Tyler finished 27^th.