Battenkill - Teamwork actually, uh, works.
Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 11:46 am
We had 4 of us in the 35+ race, Jeremy and Alan being new members of MRC, and Todd P. and myself. After doing some recon the evening before, our plan was to try and ride together and help each other as much as possible overall. The specifics of our goals were to 1. stay with the lead group over Juniper and if we weren't able to make that happen, 2. be sure to stay with the lead chase group and not ride alone (it was a windy-ass day).
The start was relatively uneventful with our field staying pretty much intact until we took a left off of 313 and headed toward the covered bridge. Things started to pick-up there. All 4 of us were in the front bunch and moving along pretty well. As pretty much everyone that's done this race before knows, the first selection (and often times the ONLY selection that counts) hits at the Juniper Swamp Hill climb. For comparison sake, thing West Bare Hill on packed dirt. It's a pretty steep climb. We were about mid-pack heading in - Jeremy took off and tried to stay with the leaders. Todd and I took a more conservative approach. If I nailed it there I really think I would have blown up too soon and my day would have been awful. Juniper Swamp comes really early in the race and the other two big climbs (Joe Bean and Stage Rd) were yet to come. As it turns out that lead group got away strong. Todd and I stayed together up and over the climb. I think we lost Alan at this point, not too sure though (btw I believe this was Alan's first road race ever? NICE CHOICE, man! Phew!).
After a few more miles up, we caught Jeremy who looked pretty whipped. He said the lead group was killing it and he wasn't sure if would have been able to hold on for long. After joining Todd and me, it looked like we had a chase group of about 15 guys or so, and for the most part (as much as Cat 5's can, anyway) we started to work pretty well together. The paceline work that Smudger did last summer definitely made sense....I wish the other dudes in our group knew as I think that if we were more organized as a group we could have gone much faster. C'est la vie.
I believe the next selection point was Joe Bean Rd, which was more of a 4 to 5 ramp climb, and if memory serves, it was paved? I hit the front of the group and tried my best to tick out a steady pace. At only about 25-30 miles in, strength was in our group so I didn't want to do anything stupid though our group did start to fracture here, and I believe we had about 6 guys now, 3 MRC'rs in the group all riding well. My pace may not have been ideal for all 15 or so in the group, but Jeremy and Todd were right there with encouraging words so I stayed at it.
After a lot of windy and rolling terrain, and some sketchy moments bunny-hopping random potholes on the dirt roads that we saw at the last minute, our merry band of 6 continued to work well together. One of the guys in our group knew the course pretty well and was giving us a quality heads-up on what we were looking for. Discussion started on how everyone was still doing as we rolled towards Stage Rd, the last climb (also dirt road). Everyone still looked good. As we got near the top, Jeremy hit the gas a bit and created a gap on the group of about 20 yards. Up on the top, the dirt turns back to pavement and descends sharply. As we all mached it downhill at at about 45 mph, Jeremy's gap grew a bit. Todd rolled up next to me and I gave him a nod. As soon as it flattened out, Jere's gap was about 50 meters. Todd and I both sat up and soft-pedaled a bit. I think we were about 5-6 km out from the finish at that point. Jere continued to TT it home for a solid and super strong 10th place. Todd and I came across 11 and 12.
Everyone stayed rubber side up, no mechanicals and some cramping but nothing too major. All in all, a fantastic time and my first true taste of teamwork on the road. I really enjoyed it and family-calendar willing, I'll be back next year.
Congratulations to the Ladies First team and Anna Barensfeld's a-MAZING season so far. Congrats also to all of the MRC'rs that traveled up for the race. Great times!!
The start was relatively uneventful with our field staying pretty much intact until we took a left off of 313 and headed toward the covered bridge. Things started to pick-up there. All 4 of us were in the front bunch and moving along pretty well. As pretty much everyone that's done this race before knows, the first selection (and often times the ONLY selection that counts) hits at the Juniper Swamp Hill climb. For comparison sake, thing West Bare Hill on packed dirt. It's a pretty steep climb. We were about mid-pack heading in - Jeremy took off and tried to stay with the leaders. Todd and I took a more conservative approach. If I nailed it there I really think I would have blown up too soon and my day would have been awful. Juniper Swamp comes really early in the race and the other two big climbs (Joe Bean and Stage Rd) were yet to come. As it turns out that lead group got away strong. Todd and I stayed together up and over the climb. I think we lost Alan at this point, not too sure though (btw I believe this was Alan's first road race ever? NICE CHOICE, man! Phew!).
After a few more miles up, we caught Jeremy who looked pretty whipped. He said the lead group was killing it and he wasn't sure if would have been able to hold on for long. After joining Todd and me, it looked like we had a chase group of about 15 guys or so, and for the most part (as much as Cat 5's can, anyway) we started to work pretty well together. The paceline work that Smudger did last summer definitely made sense....I wish the other dudes in our group knew as I think that if we were more organized as a group we could have gone much faster. C'est la vie.
I believe the next selection point was Joe Bean Rd, which was more of a 4 to 5 ramp climb, and if memory serves, it was paved? I hit the front of the group and tried my best to tick out a steady pace. At only about 25-30 miles in, strength was in our group so I didn't want to do anything stupid though our group did start to fracture here, and I believe we had about 6 guys now, 3 MRC'rs in the group all riding well. My pace may not have been ideal for all 15 or so in the group, but Jeremy and Todd were right there with encouraging words so I stayed at it.
After a lot of windy and rolling terrain, and some sketchy moments bunny-hopping random potholes on the dirt roads that we saw at the last minute, our merry band of 6 continued to work well together. One of the guys in our group knew the course pretty well and was giving us a quality heads-up on what we were looking for. Discussion started on how everyone was still doing as we rolled towards Stage Rd, the last climb (also dirt road). Everyone still looked good. As we got near the top, Jeremy hit the gas a bit and created a gap on the group of about 20 yards. Up on the top, the dirt turns back to pavement and descends sharply. As we all mached it downhill at at about 45 mph, Jeremy's gap grew a bit. Todd rolled up next to me and I gave him a nod. As soon as it flattened out, Jere's gap was about 50 meters. Todd and I both sat up and soft-pedaled a bit. I think we were about 5-6 km out from the finish at that point. Jere continued to TT it home for a solid and super strong 10th place. Todd and I came across 11 and 12.
Everyone stayed rubber side up, no mechanicals and some cramping but nothing too major. All in all, a fantastic time and my first true taste of teamwork on the road. I really enjoyed it and family-calendar willing, I'll be back next year.
Congratulations to the Ladies First team and Anna Barensfeld's a-MAZING season so far. Congrats also to all of the MRC'rs that traveled up for the race. Great times!!