5 days of racing and spectating from the eyes of Coach Brady
Hot, humid and a hellacious amount of effort are the three ways to describe the five days 
of racing at the Georgia Gran Prix. With every day reaching 95 degrees and heat indexes in the 105 degree range, each athlete’s body was tested to its maximum capacity for cooling. For me, it was a great and humbling experience dusting off the bike racer hat once again and mixing it up with athletes from across the Southeast.
The courses at Road Atlanta and the Gwinnett Center proved to be the most challenging for me as each lap resulted in a hard charging effort up hills that pushed me well into the red. Not training for this type of intensity caught up with me and I soon found myself in “a spot of bother,” as Phil Liggett would say, and eventually no longer in contact with the group.
The following three days were a little different as courses and intensities suited my current level of fitness and my ability to utilize the field to conserve energy. Each of the days ended up with a field sprint and I was pleased to take my place in the field, feeling confident that I was racing my way to fitness yet again.
The true shining stars were my athletes Johnny Brizzard, Travis Dorman and Jackson Griffin, who were actually racing and not just participating. These gentlemen have put in the work over the winter months and into the season and the results were apparent.
Both Johnny and Travis raced in the Pro/1/2 field for Palmer Cycling Team and were able to work as a team, covering attacks and attempting to create breakaways. Both worked incredibly hard and because of this work a little luck was created. Johnny was able to get in the winning breakaway 2 days and lead out his fellow teammates to a 1st place and 3rd place finish as well as take a 4th place finish for himself on day 4.
Jackson Griffin, racing for Redeye Velo Cycling Team, showed his amazing form in the category 3 field and was in the break in 3 of 5 races. Jackson had a very impressive week finishing with a 2nd place, 3rd place and 10th place finish as well as 5th in the General Classification (overall).
A fun weekend of racing and watching many athletes succeed always re-instills confidence in what you do and the fact that your methods, when applied and followed through, work. For me, this was a motivating weekend and promising that, with only one to two days a week on a bike, I am still able to stay in the mix! Hopefully there will be more fun adventures in the coming months.
BRADY IrWIN 