The end of the season in America signals the start of of racing in Latin America and the Caribbean. With our bike cases and bags packed, we embarked on the journey to the South American islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
After a rough day or two of travel, we settled into some awesome beach front apartments on the island of Tobago.
Stage one was a 90km circuit race with a punchy climb all ten laps, some ripping cross winds as we raced along the lowland roads just feet from the ocean, and some absolutely brutal heat and humidity. We lined up with a full team of nine riders – 6 from the USA and 3 riders from Barbados, in the 100 rider field. After some aggressive racing from the gun, the dust eventually settled with a five rider break off the front, including one of our riders, Brad. The first 8 laps slowly whittled the field down to about 35 riders before the race got absolutely blown apart in the final 2 laps. After a pretty courageous fight, Brad got popped out of the break and got swallowed by a few small groups on the final lap. Josh from Barbados ended up 10th, with Brad 15th, and Colin in 28th. Brad is 2nd in the KOM competition and 4th in the sprint competition, with Josh 3rd in the U23 category. 
Tomorrow is a nasty, mountainous circuit, with ten category 2 climbs over the 5 laps. And then a boat ride to Bucco Reef to go snorkeling. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it.
