April 9th dawn a bright sunny spring weekend as Dalford “Demo man’ England toed the line for the Sunny King criterium in Anniston, Alabama. (no that’s not where Forest Gump’s from) Although not the hardest course on the circuit, the lead in to the finale can be touchy if you lose focus for just a millisecond. Dalford made a couple breaks which did not stick but nonetheless finished a quick 5th getting boxed in the final 200 meters.
The next day found the pack battling a bumpy little 57 mile Road race. After a few breakaway attempts were squashed out, the maturity that Dalford has gained over the last two years or so has kicked in. He just sat towards the front and waited. After some good climbing, it came to the final climb to the finish. D placed himself in good position and gave all he had about 300m out. He got a gap on the field then caught the blown up breakaway and kept going. In the blink of an eye, he came across the line in FIRST PLACE. At post race interview on CNN, he was quoted as saying “I just could not believe a Triathlete can beat some cyclists in a hilly ass road race” Well Dalf, that’s how a guy named Lance started.
