Jamestown Classic

[Jacob]

This one will be replaying in my head until next April I think. The finish is a right hand turn up a not very steep hill for 1/2 a mile which flattens out for a few hundred yards then takes a 90 degree left turn for the mostly downhill sprint of a little less than a 1/2 mile. The bunch was all together going into this. First we had to avoid the truck coming from the opposite direction and turning left while we were turning right. Then there was the parked landscaper's truck on the right side. Then a car turned left out of a side street halfway up the hill directly in front of the peleton. There was a lot of yelling, but no crashing thankfully. I grabbed a wheel near the top of the climb and came around the final corner in THIRD WHEEL. I'm basically in the absolute ideal position. The two guys in front of me are both Blue Hills CC and I assume that the one is leading out the other, but the pace isn't fast enough to match that theory. I'm still somewhat in disbelief at what a perfect position I'm in, and I'm starting to get very nervous about someone getting a jump on me from behind. The alarm bells ring, the gut says go, and I go. All out. This is about 400-500 meters from the finish line. About 100 meters to go riders start creeping into and through my peripheral vision. No time or wherewithal to re-attach to anyone's draft, just spinning out through the finish line for 9th place. COULDA DONE BETTA! Great weather.

[JeremyC]

At least you went for it. Nice!

[Len_E]

A disappointing end to a disappointing season. I like this race and the course and have had good results in the past. This year my fitness has been good when there were no races and less than what I expect for races, mostly due to my work schedule. I kept in decent shape for this race though and hoped for a finish similar to last year. Didn't happen and a good bit of it was my fault. A mile into the race a break of 6 or 8 riders went. It was a good group with most of the big teams in the race represented. Facing the prospect of helping to lead a quixotic chase with maybe 10 or 15 lonely riders I decided against doing much work on the first lap with those trying to shut it down. But on the second lap Skip Foley, who had been leading the chase group the first lap, comes by looking for help I decide to cast my lot with him and a small group. We actually worked pretty well with a very fast pace despite our small numbers but with 3 miles to go saw little chance of catching the break. Strangely, as we leave the beach road and head toward the last climb, the chase group is 100 meters up the road. We catch them before the climb and all of a sudden we're looking at a bunch sprint with 50 guys in the pack. The teams were lining up and the big sprinters were showing pushing toward the front and I didn't like my odds. A few meters into the climb I step on it going up the gutter on the right side of the road. I almost hit a landscaping dumptruck parked halfway in the street and hit the brakes nearly stopping completely. Even Mike Norton passes me! I jump back in the gutter with more than half the climb to go and push hard. I hoped the pace of the chase would have taken its toll on some of the legs around me and when I hit the top of the hill I was in front with a little bit left in the tank. Unfortunately, the legs-chase theory didn't pan out. I glanced behind me and there were 50 guys splayed across the road just getting up to speed. I put my head down and drove toward the left turn. Just before it Foley comes sweeping on my right trying to catch 3 teams of 3 or 4 guys that passed me on the inside as we turned. More bodies followed as we barreled down the hill and imagining the whole field passing me I started my sprint earlier (but not as early as Jacob) than I would have liked. I found a couple wheels but couldn't get through the shrapnel of the spent teammates who slowed significantly, obstructing any chance of picking up a few spots. Worse than anything is I crossed the line with too much left in the tank to feel anything but disappointment.
Like Jacob, I have a winter of second-guessing. And need to figure out my schedule (job be damned) so my fitness matches my race schedule.
Next stop - two days of Battenkill.