Khary Ward, future crit king. (photo copyright Andy Shen, velocitynation.com)

Harlem….Okay, so nobody apart from Khary Ward contested the Harlem Skyscraper Classic. Despite it being a main event in NYC racing, the bulk of the team chose instead to travel north to the rolling macadam of Housatonic Hills. But first: Khary Ward’s weekend…after recovering from abject dejection after his hard crash at Boundbrook, NJ, Khary rebounded on Saturday June 16 in Prospect park, capturing a fine second place in the Category Five event. Khary then put in an excellent showing at the 4/5 race at Harlem, finishing 21st and keeping body and soul upright, Khary continues to polish his criterium skills…

The bread in a podium sandwich: Almonte, Estevez, and Caputy (photo courtesey Stephen Sallee)

Housatonic…Pascual Caputy, Lewis Almonte, and Graham Lang put the junior division through its paces at Housatonic Hills, while Connor Sallee chose to suffer along in the Category Three event. Lewis and Pascual (riding his season debut after a spring knee injury) ambled away with Hot Tubes Danny Estevez. Pascual did the bulk of the pace setting on the climbs, fatiguing himself a bit too much to contest the finale. Estevez snuck off near the end, as Lewis struggled to keep pace. Again CRCA JrDev was the bread in a podium sandwich.