Perennial Cross Florida first finisher Carl Westegren edged RAAM Champion Rob Kish at Pine Island to conclude the 167 mile Cross Florida ride. Three GCC Centurian riding group members all finished in the top twenty, Ralph Schlief at 4th, Roger Pierce at 12th, and Shannon Woodruff around 17th (the organizers don't try to keep an accurate tally, so some guess work is involved in determining exact placements). Support driver Sean Nickerson did yoeman duty in keeping the Centurians hydrated.
Burt Silverstein and Skip Choate also completed the ride in the top third of participants. We believe that Mark Fuller also did the ride, but we have not had a report from him.
As usual, the ride started out fast. GCC riders were 1-2-3 in the 300+ rider field going into Meritt Island, where a stop light consolidated the field. From there a pace tandem grabbed the front, and except for a couple of futile attempts by single riders, held a steady 25 mph into Oviedo, where they stopped. A more sane pace yielded a century time of 4:28. Then Rob Kish went sailing off the front, and the race was on. Carl Westegren's attack just past Center Hill shattered the remainder of the field, setting up his eventual one-on-one dual with Kish.