The only complaint about the Virgin Islands Cycling Federation (VICF) bike race on Sunday morning was about the state of the roads, but if anyone looked past that, the conditions were right for racing. A very enthusiastic bunch turned out to battle against their competitors in the much anticipated Fredriksted Road Race. After a quick briefing about the circuit race and the course conditions, three groups got in line and with the short command of rider, set, go — each group left in one minute intervals. The Elite group, led by Apolinar Acevedo Jr., set the pace early compelling the group to keep up or get dropped. The group rode a four-mile loop ten times totaling 40 miles and stayed together until about lap five when the constant attacks began to take their toll on the less prepared riders. In the end, the trio that shook up things earlier in the race attacked each other with about 100 yards to go that resulted in Acevedo Jr. nudging Mark Defour for the top spot.
In just his second race, rookie Deve Barbour, who lead the pack through all 32 miles of the race, continued his winning ways, separating himself from veteran James Meyers by a very narrow margin to capture first place in the Expert category. A very small Sport class was dominated by Dennis ‘Papani’ Parris, who from the command “go” never let up until he had completed all 24 miles of the race. Tino Gario and Joey Swanson rounded out the other two podium places.
The VICF’s next scheduled race is the Conch Shell Classic for kids, which will take place at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 26, at Altona Lagoon. The age categories are: 5-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-14. Children must wear close-toed shoes and a helmet, and be accompanied by a parent. The bicycle must have a working brake. For more information, call 513-2707.
Frederiksted Road Race April 21, 2013
Total Time
Elite-10 laps 40 miles
1 Apolinar Acevedo Jr. 1:59:37
2 Mark Defour 1:59:37
3 Glenn Massiah 1:59:43
4 Cumba Greaux 2:03:19
5 Apolinar Acevedo Sr. 2:03:20
6 Narian Gentius 2:03:40
7 David Parris 2:07:05
Expert-8 laps 32 miles
1 Deve Barbour 1:42:36
2 James Meyers 1:42:36
3 Miguel Cruz 1:42:37
4 Mervin Mills 1:42:39
5 Morgan Theophane 1:42:48
6 Donald Christian 1:49:20
7 Laverne Fredericksen 1:54:52
8 Yves Abraham 1:54:53
9 Melissa Banuelos 1:54:54
Sport- Laps 24 miles
1 Dennis Parris 1:24:05
2 Valentino Gario 1:33:14
3 Joey Swanson 1:33:17
4 Bina Gario 1:36:13