With many familiar names in the field, eleven under-15-year-olds participated in the Mengoni youth races.
Francesca Ottavio “loved getting out there and rode her butt off.” It was the fastest lap she ever did in the park, said her father David. She won the 12-14 age group but had little competition for most of the race as Daniel Conejo arrived late to the start line. Urged on by race marshals from Sanchez-Metro, Cesca kept pushing it until Daniel joined her on the west side after cutting the course with special permission. They proceeded together to Cat’s Paw with Cesca winning the gold medal. Francesca would have liked to have more competition but the race got her to push harder and she thought it was “awesome.”
Emilie Sauvayre learned some tough lessons in the 10-12 year old race. With the competitive instincts of one particular well known local rider, she took off as hard as she could from the start. But as she reached Cat’s Paw the legs weren’t quite there and it was a painful climb. She hung in for the bronze medal with Jonah Greenberg taking the gold. Skylar Davel in Sanchez-Metro jersey finished second. Despite the pain, Emilie loved the opportunity to get out and race in the park after watching her parents race many times. Now when they talk about going out too hard, she knows what it’s about.
Lazzlo Sandler won the gold among the 7-9 year olds. Edward Leboyer, after winning renown in the Floyd TT, finished second in his NYVelocity kit. Lucas Sauvayre, visiting from France finished fourth and loved getting an opportunity to race. Lucas lives in the Alps and it’s much harder for 8-year-olds to do some riding there.
Much kudos to David Greenberg and David Ottavio who came up with the idea to do the race and made it happen, to David Bowen and Wendy Nickerson who managed registration and to the Sanchez-Metro team for helping with registration and providing coaching during the race.
With continued interest, hopefully this was the start of a continuing series sponsored by the club.
Update: See Marco Quezada’s photos of the race and the winners on the podium.