Chris Thater Memorial Crit | 20150822:23

[Bradford]

Saturday morning, just before 5 am - we loaded up two vehicles and made the trek westbound for the Chris Thater Memorial Crit in Binghamton, NY.

I had been looking forward to this race for several weeks because we were showing up with a strong squad (Jeremy, Winslow, Tyler, and Megan) - ready to step up and work together - and chase some results for MRC.

Saturday - Men's 2/3 race:

Jeremy and I lined up in the field of 65 for the men's twilight 2/3 race. Thater featured a pretty traditional four corner crit with a downhill into turn one, and slight uphill out of turn three into turn four. The front side and back side had fairly long straightaways, although the back side featured a bulbout which resulted in a lot of pinching nearly every lap. After watching several fields throughout the day, including Winlsow's and Tyler's 4/5 and Megan's 3/4, I was a bit nervous - each race featured numerous crashes as people struggled to negotiate the corners. However, after spinning a few laps on the course prior to the race, I concluded it was likely operator error as the corners seemed to be pretty standard.

Poor positioning on the line saw me situated at the back of the field. Jeremy had a prime time spot in the front row. I spent the first lap making my way up to the front of the field. I was pretty surprised how easy it was to move up along the straightaways, and was able to make it back to the front within a lap or two. The pace for the first 10 laps or so was very high - uncomfortably fast. We eventually settled in to something more manageable. I tried to stay within 10 wheels for most of the race, and was within in 5 for many of the laps. I spent a lot of time responding to attacks - I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say myself and others chased back somewhere between 12-15 attacks to keep everything together. The course was very fast - we averaged just under 28 mph for an hour - and it was a lot of fun to rail the corners hard.

Things slowed down with 7 laps to go, but ramped up significantly with 5 remaining. I continued to fight to hold my position at the front. On the last lap, the eventual winner launched an attach 3/4 down the back stretch before turns 3 and 4. We all hesitated for about 1 second and he had a gap. five of us drilled it on the front as we flew through the turns and I was sitting 6th coming out of the last corner. As we charged to the finish, I came up into 4th with more speed than anyone else - if the finish line was a foot further, I would have been on the podium. This was literally a photo finish: http://www.road-results.com/race/6749#cat72207 - I'm on the far side, missing 2nd and 3rd by a quarter wheel - final result 4th/65

Jeremy had a pretty sketchy mechanical - tire slipping on the tubular - with 6 to go - just outside of the free lap. I will let him fill in the details.

This race was a key test for both of us, to gauge fitness for Mayor's Cup. We both hung in and were able to shape the race throughout the hour. With another two big training blocks, we will be well positioned to throwdown in Boston.

Sunday - Men's 3/4 race:

Sunday morning - team breakfast and race strategy discussion. We toyed with the idea of launching a flyer with maybe 10 laps to go, and TTing to the finish - but decided to play to our strengths, control the race, and try to secure a team win in the sprint. Jeremy, Tyler, Winslow and myself lined up together on the front. It was confidence inspiring to head into a race with this kind of depth and strength. The squad agreed to work for me throughout the race - pulling back attacks, and covering all the moves, so I could sit in and stay fresh.

The first half of the race saw Jeremy and myself up front. Attacks came fast and furious - Jeremy was there to respond for each one, burning his matches for the team as the minutes ticked by. Throughout the race, I would get a bit uncomfortable drifting any further back than 10th wheel - so, I did come up the sides a few times before Jeremy told me to just signal when I wanted to come up - this was helpful.

About halfway through, Jeremy had just pulled the group back together and another attack went up the other side - fortunately, Winslow was coming up too with momentum, and was in perfect position to cover. Tyler joined us shortly afterwards, and provided much needed relief.

The plan was always to cover the attacks (check) - but if the boys were still there at the end, we left open the opportunity for a lead out. Three laps to go - and we have all four of us inside top 10 wheels. I checked in with Tyler, who had lost a bottle earlier in the race - I passed him mine and after a quick swig, he was ready to bring us home. Tyler moves into 2nd wheel, with Jeremy, Winslow and Myself in tow. He ended up on the front earlier than we would have liked, but there is no turning back at that point, so Tyler buried himself for a lap before pulling off. We had a bit of a swarm at that point - Jeremy was caught up in this before someone took a horrendous line and crashed two and put Jeremy into the fence (although he managed to stay up right).

I started screaming at Winslow to close the gap and he mad a massive uphill effort to bring me back to second wheel before completely blowing up - at this point, we had one lap to go. I wasn't pulling through on this wheel and about 3/4 down the back another guy jumped. I yelled that this was it, but when the wheel I was on was slow to respond, I went around. We barreled three deep into the final turn and I opened it up on the straight, coming into the finish 1st/67 with about two bike lengths. Megan got a nice video of the sprint, posted on facebook.

This race was also very fast - only fractionally slower than the 2/3 , averaging 27.4 mph for 40 minutes. Also worth noting - this was the NY State Cat 3 Crit Championship - so, MRC unofficially took that too (New England podium sweep meant the jersey was awarded to 4th place finisher).

Key takeaways:
1. This was a TEAM win - In fact, I did very little, almost nothing aside from the final sprint - full credit goes to Jeremy, Winslow, and Tyler (and Meg, steadfast support behind the barriers). These guys went deep - sacrificing themselves for the team win. Jeremy and Tyler finished 26th and 27th, and Winslow was 9th. They all literally emptied the tank - their races effectively ended a lap or two earlier than everyone else. It's of course easy to say you're all in - but responding under pressure, delivering in the heat of battle, giving more when you feel like you have nothing else to give - that's another level.
2. My racing experience is limited to this season - but from what I've seen - teamwork greatly increases your chances of a successful result. This, of course is obvious - but when we look at teams like GLV, CCB, and others - they consistently deliver results in all categories (not just the 1s/2s). They also bring a squad, with a plan, and a steadfast commitment to each other - their success is not accidental.
3. MRC has the experience, depth, and resources to generate similar results. As we saw in Binghamton - when we come together, we can dictate the race and increase our chances of results - It's also a lot more fun (and semipro) to race as a team rather than individuals in the same kit.

We could have a badass 3 squad for 2016. I can't wait to repay the favor to these guys down the road.

[Mkidd3]

Great job everyone!! I love reading these race reports!!!

[pace21]

This is awesome. I've been waiting all day for this report to get posted. Well done all. Can't WAIT for Mayors Cup.

[Jacob]

Nice work team!

[jraguin]

Great work guys. I am really really looking forward to next season (sorry to say that, but that is where it is for me). I am happy to bury myself for others in numerous races next season.

[PJ McQuade]

Nice writeup, quality teamwork, bad ass sprinting, Brad!

[JeremyC]

Great report Brad. I'll only add that these were NOT easy races. The 2/3 was ridiculously fast and Brad was an animal chasing every attack. I had a nice view as I hung on for dear life midpack (I would have helped if I could, trust me). The first 11 laps averaged over 30mph (according to Strava). On day 2 we literally had a team meeting, created a plan, everyone agreed and then everyone delivered. In my 6 years of racing I've never seen a strategy work that well. Looking forward to Mayor's Cup, just wish Winslow and Tyler could join us cause they are Cat 3's disguised as Cat 4's.

[KTeves]

Congrats and nice work to all! Sounds like two days of good racing.

[Len_E]

Wow, great write-up and hell of a team race. Brad, you're very bad and the team is showing it's teeth.