The road race was the last of the three races. James had a decent lead over his age group so the goal was to keep Teja in second place for the general classification (aka, GC) or overall ranking.
It would be a 4-lap, 24-mile race. They started in a pack and when they came around after the first lap, they were still in a pack.
When they came around after lap two, James and a kid named Justin Minnis were off the front. We first thought that Justin was in his age group, but he was actually a 15-16. He was in dead last place for the GC in the older age group and he wanted to show everyone what he had. Justin is one of those kids with a background that just makes you want to pull for him. James said they got a little gap and Justin told him he wanted to break. James told him he wasn't sure they could pull it off for 15 miles, but that he was willing to try. They had both had a very hard race the day before, but they began working together.
At one point, Justin wanted to give up but James encouraged him to keep going they were almost there. Their breakaway held and even if it was because the bigger, stronger boys didn't chase, it was still an awesome finish.
When the pace car rounded that last corner, we could make out a lone rider. I thought it looked like James, but I wasn't sure. It was just a few seconds more when I knew it was him. I yelled, "Go, James!" as only a mother can when her child is entirely too far away to hear her. The announcer was a little surprised and turned to me and asked if it was James Todd. He gave James a big shoutout and made a bit of a deal about his being 12.
James soloed across after working with Justin for 2 and a half laps. The big boys let them go and it was a fun win for Frazier. Justin just didn't have enough to sprint it out with him, but his courageous effort took him from last in the GC for the 15-16 guys to being third on the podium with a trophy.
In the end, they accomplished their goal of having James and Teja both on the podium for the GC. James got a very cool Tour of the Bahamas jersey and they both got very big trophies, which the security folks at the airport had a fun time looking at and asking James all about.
The winners had their picture taken with the "Bobby girls." Bank of the Bahamas (B.O.B.) was a major sponsor, so they definitely took part in the awards ceremony. Almost the same as "podium girls." (For the initiated, podium girls are usually incredibly attractive women who gift the winners with their prizes.)
One really cool thing was the attention they got. They were interviewed and lots of people wanted to get their picture.
The crew - Teja, James, Zoe, Wagner and Dominique. We are so proud of them. The guy running the race made a point to tell us how polite and what good sportsmen(and women) they were. Love hearing that.
We did have a little time to hang out by the pool and the beach. It was a bit cool, but soooo much warmer than in Atlanta. I'm thinking this definitely needs to become an annual tradition.
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