Tour of the Hilltowns

[onegeardoug]

Cratty, Sweeney, new member Justin Raymond and I lined up in the 5's. PJ raced the 3's. As you can see in the race profile, there's not an inch of flat on the route; you're either going up or down for 57 miles and the roads are terrible for most of it. At 20 miles, there's a 3 mile climb that averages 7 percent with some sections of 10-11 percent. (In other words, it's just like the Col de Tourmalet...but about 1/5th as long.) In the 5's this was where the race blew apart. I went with the 2 leaders at the base of hill and made it about half way up with them. I could hear Phil and Paul saying "Kennedy needs to stay out of the red-zone and find a rhythm that he can maintain over the summit". As I had already hit 194 bpm, I think it was a little late. Anyway, the next group of 2 caught me by the top and we were joined by another 2 very quickly. So over the summit, I was in a group of 5 chasing the 2 leaders. I'm fairly certain that there was carnage on the slope behind me.

The 5 of us recovered a fraction then started working well together to get to the leaders, that were only about 150m ahead. They sat up aftera while and now we were 7. Everyone worked well together, sharing the work and ensuring that we'd stay away from whatever group had formed behind us. We dropped one rider around mile 33 near the feed zone. Not sure why.

At 10 miles to go, it started POURING rain. I welcomed it. I was on the verge of cramping and dehydration. I couldn't see anything but the wheel in front of me and the spray, but I was happy...kinda.

The finale is a 7 mile climb on Rt 9 of 3-5%, finishing on a false flat with a 180 degree dog-leg right and another 200m to the line. At about 5 miles to go, the BackBay/Boloco rider attacked. Nobody reacted. I couldn't. I suppose the same was true of the others. At 3 miles to go, the Kissena rider attacked and tried to bridge. I reacted, got his wheel, but lost it pretty quickly. Two other riders got back to me and we were 3 looking for 3rd place. I let them pull through and started thinking about my options.

With several hundred meters to top of last climb, at the back of the group of 3, I decided that I would go for broke. I attacked with about 100m to the top of the climb, and about 1km left to the finish. I opened up a big gap right away. False flat, big ring, drilling it and thinking about Jens Voigt telling his legs to SHUT UP. I was about equidistant from the 2 leaders and the 2 chasers...and that's where I finished...in 3rd. The Boloco rider (Kevin Sweeney: Cat 2 in 'Cross) got pimped at the line by Kissena. (Not a big surprise that these were the 2 leaders over the big climb.)

Props to new member Justin Raymond, who's only 17 and racing in a borrowed MRC jersey...but finished 9th! Way to go. I want to hear your story and how you somehow finished well out of what must have been the second group on the road. And, you have to bug your dad to buy you a 'Cross bike!!

[RFollansbee]

Nice job Doug. You're rounding into form nicely...

[JeremyC]

Here's my race race report:

-Lost a bottle and almost crashed
-Bonked in the first mile of the huge climb (i think it was closer to 5 miles Doug, but of course I did go backwards for a while)
-Set a new Max-HR
-Briefly considered hitchhiking
-Got passed by the Womens field
-Got caught by the 2 Pro leaders 50 meters from the finish
-Sprinted for 3rd in the Pro field (or so it may of seemed to anyone who didn't look at my number)

At least I got clarification on one thing, I am not a climber.

[jraguin]

Great job Doug. Especially attacking with 1 km to go ... being spent and still able to rally with an attack shows your mental toughness. See you at Norwell next week. It will be a very different kind of race.

John

[argus]

Congrats Doug, great race; and way to give those legs a good talking to.

[rusto]

Great job, Doug!

[scott_sweeney]

Oh man, this was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike. PJ pretty much backed this up and given his experience, Hilltowns gives me the bar with which to measure other races. When I asked how this compared to Quabbin, Jeremy had the line of the day: "Quabbin is a crit compared to this".

Somewhat of a bummer day overall - I too started cramping badly about halfway up the first wall, which is too bad because I could see Doug's group. But once I cramped up, they were gone, and I went into survival mode which completely sucks when you're not even halfway thru the race.

I'm not certain how the other fields compared, but the selection was definitely made on that first wall. Once I figure out how to fuel up properly beforehand, I'd like another crack at this one. I'm finding that while I don't have the snap to accelerate on the steep climbs like Doug, Rob, and Smooooooodger, I can maintain a steady tempo. On the last climb of the day we picked up guys that couldn't maintain what they had started.

Len, Rob, Chris, John....you guys all should consider this race next year....all made for your style of riding.

Congrats also to Justin.....fantastic job!

[onegeardoug]

@Justin: impressive ride! Bridging a gap after a long day in the saddle is tough. Nice work.

That was me stopping for the nature break. Neutralized over that bridge presented a perfect opportunity. Chasing back on was totally TdF-like. There was a line of 10 cars behind the peleton and I used them to get back on, which was surprisingly easy.

[michaelcole]

That was me stopping for the nature break. ... There was a line of 10 cars behind the peloton and I used them to get back on, which was surprisingly easy.

Nice. Very Pro.

[PJ McQuade]

Preface: Novella here with no real glory to report like Doug, but this race is worth writing about.

Ch. 1: As Scott said this race is no joke! The E. Hawley Rd climb at mile 20 is brutal. Far worse than big climbs on other hilly races such as Housatonic or Battenkill. As in every other field, this was the selection spot in the cat 3 race. I hit the climb toward the back end of the field. Mistake. A select group quickly formed at the front, things strung out, and riders began going backwards. I crawled my way forward, grabbing a wheel here or there but this small group at the front was too far up the road and the climb was too steep.I recall doing 8,9 mph, with my HRM pounding out 190+. Most of this terrible stretch was also exposed to the sun. And in didn't end. Ugh. I made my way up to what would become the chase group. I was completely blown up but hung on. Even the "top" of the climb was false flats for a while. I've been in chase groups a lot this season as a cat 3 newbie and all, but this one was the most efficient. We had a group of 10 or so taking quick pulls before rotating off to the right and back through again. After 15 minutes or so, shortly after the feed zone, we started to see the main field. A few more big efforts and we finally bridged up. There were 2 guys up the road who had apparently escaped on the big climb but the field didn't seem too concerned. As for me, I was just happy to be back in the race and sat in the pack stuffing my face full of Cliff Blocks and GUs.

Ch. 2: I would describe the terrain of the second half of the race as rolling. No one attacked and it was recovery time. Still 2 up the road. The last 7 miles was the final selection. Route 9 kicks up here all the way to the finish, as Doug said 4-5%. Given the monster at mile 20, this last stretch hurts! The pace intensified as the breakaway duo was now in sight. A few guys were popping, wheels were touching, a crash claimed a few guys and split up the field. I was just in front of this mess and avoided the carnage. I didn't look back but this seemed to reduce the field down to 30 or so guys. Then the skies opened up and the rain hit. Refreshing! Finally the 1k sign appeared and we hit the sharp right-hander to the finishing stretch. If you weren't in the top 10 at the turn you had no shot, and well, I wasn't in the top 10. I picked off a few dead souls and basically sprinted for I dunno 20th? It's hard to believe this one ended in a sprint given the cruel terrain but that's what happened. I'll be back next year- just need to find longer hills to train. Or mountains maybe.

[Smudger]

Doug, A win and a 3rd place in your last 2 races gives you official "sandbagger" status.

[jraguin]

Nice job PJ. Looks like 17th in the results, and 13 seconds back with same time. Although I am new to the club so take it for what it is, I can only dream of getting to where you are. 17th in a tough Cat 3 race is pretty damn impressive.

Doug, did you notice that the results said you were only 5 seconds behind the leaders while 29 seconds ahead of 4th. So you must have been gaining on the leaders, sandbagger. Again, kick butt job.

John

[PJ McQuade]

Thanks for the accolades, John! Keep racing and good things will happen.