Minuteman Road Club

Cat 3 report. Around 50 men in the field with a handful of P/1/2 women, who they combined with us. Chris and I staged toward the back, not worrying too much about position given the neutral start and expected the usual "lap 1 warm up" we've been accustomed to in the 3s. OOPS. 10 dudes/2 ladies gas it as soon as they drop the flag on the Central Turnpike climb. I never even saw them go as I'm still hanging out in back. Race over. Well, for the next fifty miles anyway. I can't speak for the guys up front who watched a group of 12 ride away but I'm assuming they figured it wasn't going anywhere. False. One thing about Purgatory is there are lots of twists and turns in narrow wooded roads so it's perfect for a break really. I also found out (once I did move up) that there were very few guys willing to work at the front. Sigh. Chris, however, was willing to work, but I'll leave his reporting to him. Bottom line: strong break out of sight, content peloton = fast growing gap. At the start of lap 2 it was at 45 secs, quickly grew to over a min. and was at 2 mins. at one point. Up in the break a guy attacked solo and the break became a pack of chasers for 4 laps. HE needs to upgrade! Back in the field organization was poor and I just tried to stay toward the front. I was doing some work with maybe 4-5 others. It was frustrating that the other 30 guys weren't. On lap 3 I tucked in midpack realizing a catch wasn't happening in this fashion so why burn match sticks? Weeee a race for 12th!!! Maybe the podium will be a flight of stairs and I'll make it!

BUT things got interesting on our 4th run up Lackey (5 laps total). A group of 4 from our group opens a gap containing a dude wearing compression socks (?) who worked like a horse all day and some other people I don't know. This sort of kick-started the racing and we worked hard for a while until catching them 10 minutes later on the Mendon Rd. descent. Up the road the 11 chasers are fading fast trying to catch sandbagger jones. Apparently the attacks from us on the last lap were cutting into the gap in a major way. The SRAM car was in sight in the village of Manchaug (a few miles from finish). At the top of the Manchaug climb with the 11 chasers dangling, dudes start to get over enthused and fidgety around me. Relax guys, we haven't even hit the climb yet! I was 10th wheel when a few riders passed me on the left toward the yellow line. Another guy tries the same move but bumps my rear wheel. I stayed upright but heard a crash behind me. I never looked back but it sounded ugly. Now we're at the turn onto Lackey and the chase group is right there (solo guy not in sight). I felt pretty cooked but managed to dangle on the back of group of ten ready for the catch. The catch came at the top of the climb and I was just sort of hanging on. I clicked into the big ring, put down a lukewarm sprint and rolled in for 15th. Meh. The top 10 was littered with guys from the field who swallowed up the break so it's too bad I didn't have just a bit more in the tank. Solo guy won by 30 seconds.

I love Purgatory because it's held on the roads I train on every day, yet I can't master this one. Weird race, overall. It sums up the Cat 3 New England racing scene this year. Fiery juniors using this as a stepping stone, a few tri freaks who are clearly Cat 2s sticking around for glory, hardly any team tactics, just racing to race I guess. Oh well, it's still a blast. I hope before the season's up we get a bigger 3 team together. We have all these Cat 3s now but none of us race together really. Let's pick something out (cough, LONGSJO) and get it going.

I raced the cat4 35+ for 4 laps of the course. Nice weather during the entire ride. Nothing interesting during the first two laps.

There was a 7 person break on the 3rd lap that started after the 3rd time up Lackey. No one made an effort to catch them. When we got to the flat section on the forth lap I made an effort to get up to the front. A couple of us made an effort to paceline but failed pretty quickly since apparently no one knows how it works (does no one watch TV?) I also realized that I was starting to cramp so I snuck back to hide in the pack. I backed off a bit but this put me in poor position for the final climb up lackey. I probably could have raced smarter at this point to keep up near the front.

I finished mid field at 28th place. The difference between 8th place and 28th place was 18 seconds, which is pretty much the time I lost on the last trip up Lackey. My fitness and training this year is good although I still need something a bit more to get a top 10. I do have an issue with lackey Rd. Maybe it is because you can't see ahead of you but this hill has my number. Unfinished business.

Race trivia:

I used all my bottles but didn't really eat anything ( I ate right before the start). Our race was graced with the presence of the Amazonian moto-ref we had at Sterling (think Briene from Game of Thrones). She would slide up next to us on all of the small hills to ensure that no one went over the imaginary yellow line. I was certain she was going to pull me to the back at one point because I gunned it on the short little rise after the turn off of Mendon. However, I turned off the gas and didn't pass anyone so I didn't get in trouble.

We also were graced with a clueless rider from BRC (rider 519). He would wobble all over the place and would very his cadence and intensity all the fucking time. I wanted to put him in the ditch.

The race parking was right next to an active little league field. Two cars over had a smashed windshield when I got back from the race. luckily no harm to my car. As I was putting away my bike I noticed that a BRC guy was parked right next to me. I was going to complain about rider 519 - but luckily I somehow got behind this guy to see if he was 519. Of course he was Nicest guy but a total tool on the bike. Go figure.

PJ McQuade wrote:dude wearing compression socks (?) who worked like a horse all day and some other people I don't know.

Like knee high compression socks? Gnarly.

Pj, sounds frustrating. I really wish I could have done this race, maybe I could have sacrificed myself with some early chasing duties. Or maybe I would have gotten dropped and been useless. Your times up Lackey look pretty fast.

Carl, not a bad result, keep working hard and the results will come.

Good description of the 3 race PJ. I felt pretty good going in to this one. With only 2 teammates our options were limited, but Plan A was to sit in for 2 laps then have PJ try to mix it up on Lackey.3 to initiate a split or a break. If its less than 5 guys it's a break and I let them go and I block, if it's more than 5 guys it's a split and I try to join the party. If that failed or the break was caught, plan B was I sit in the whole day and gun it up the last Lackey climb (Lackey.5). As PJ described, a sizable and formidable break went away on lap 1. Oops. What was plan C again? The pack limited losses on Lackey.1 but at Start/Finish on lap 1 the break had 30-45 seconds. Wow. I was near the front with Sully and he started pulling on the downhill past the finish line. My internal plan C formulation went something like "well we decided that PJ was the designated finisher for this race, and right now we're in real jeopardy of racing for 13th place" so on the fly I made a snap decision and when Sully pulled off I started hammering at the front. I pulled the rest of the downhill and swung right onto Central turnpike and kept the pace up to the top of the first climb, then swung over and flicked my elbow. Nothing. So I swung back to the other side and flicked my elbow. Nothing. So I swung back to the other side and slowed down to like 15mph. Nothing. REALLY? This is about when I started getting really frustrated and despite my best William Wallace impersonation I couldn't rally the troops to chase (I needed Smudger). Oh and the next time check had them at over a minute. Meanwhile I'm still on the front, back up to about 18-19mph and thinking this is stupid but still wanting to work for PJ, I tried a new tactic which was to drill it on the second, longer Central turnpike hill to get a little gap and let chasers come after me and maybe that way we can light the fire. I got the little gap (10-15 sec) and held it there so someone might be tempted, but to no avail. I held the gap onto Southwick? road and then onto Mendon road, I tucked in for a fast descent and maintained a 10ish second gap by the end. The group caught me as we were turning right onto Barnett, and a strong looking out-of-stater attacked on Benson. Yah! Here we go. I was feeling not awesome but I chased hard to catch him and see if we could do something. We extended a little but by the top of the Barnett climb I got the bad news. 1:30 to the break. I sat up on the little downhill heading to Whitins road. The pack caught us after the turn, and withing a minute or two the group decided that NOW was the time to chase. There were 4-6 of us rotating through at the front on Whitins, I had a little throw up in my mouth, and here comes PJ pulling through in the paceline (plan D???). We made good time and continued to work fairly well together at the front all the way through Manchaug and up those climbs. With Lackey.2 looming, the paced eased on the flat-to-downhill leading up to Lackey, so I tried my best to recover before swinging right. I got about 1/3 of the way up Lackey all right but then starting knifing my way to the back, and when we hit the last wall BOOM! the drag chute went out and it was game over. I was in my granny and just trying to turn the pedals over. Then I rode around the course for 2 more laps cursing myself and finished with 3 up-and-downs on Lackey while waiting for the group to lap me so I could cheer for PJ on the Lackey Wall.

For the power geeks the data tells the story. From the start of Lackey on that ill-fated lap, the next 30 minutes (including the part of Lackey that was pre-implosion) I spent with a normalized power that was 13% over my threshold. That's not sustainable, a fact I learned the hard way when the field rolled away. The only solace I take is that PJ and company caught the break right at the very end, so maybe all that effort on lap 2 was the difference at the end, and made up some finishing spots for PJ. We'll never know I guess. That's bike racing!

Great racing out there today guys. I think Carl summed it up perfectly, it was all abut the break in our race. I usually jump into every break I see, but not this one... I really thought they were comming back. As it was a bigger break with lots of different teams represented there was more blocking than chasing going on in the main pack.Its too bad because most of the escapees couldn't climb well.

Overall a fun day and that's what it's all about. On to the next one.

Wow guys, that is some serious racing. I am not surprised by the break at the top of Lackey on the last lap in the 4s, since that would be a natural place to try to make a break IMHO. But a big break out of the neutral start in the 3s? Incredible. I have never heard of such a thing, and I guess the thing I have never heard of is the pack letting it go. Very pro for them, I have to say, without the team organization to chase it down. Sorry I wasn't there guys, because if you had one more we could have sacrificed and rotated off with Chris to work to reduce the gap to the break.

Lackey Road giveth and Lackey Road taketh away. After a rough start in a powerful 45+ group I found my rhythm before lap two. Unfortunately, I missed the break at the start of lap 2 - pretty much a recurring theme for me this season - but felt pretty good up Lackey the first and second trips up. Was at or near the front each time and felt good on the attack that came right after the crest. Approaching Lackey the third lap I was way too far back but pushed forward to the top 15 and found a good wheel to follow up the right side. Just after the turn as we hit the first steep section the bike in front swerves hard to the left. WTF. A second later I find out why. A blown 35+ rider was zigging on the edge of the road and of delirium and I was on him and then crashed into a pile of poison ivy before I knew it. My race, for all intents and purposes, ended there. The guy was pretty sorry and helped me out, grabbing my bottles after they rolled down the hill, while I put my chain back on and straightened my brake lever. The section of road was too steep to get a start and I kept slipping trying to go run up so I walked to the less steep section and got a push from the Sram car. By the time I got to the top of the hill I lost 3 minutes at least. I caught one shelled rider after another but none of them provided any assistance. Finished the 2 laps alone, exhausted and completely frustrated. Having 2 laps around Purgatory to think about missing the break and then having bad luck did not help my attitude.
I have to mention the performance by Rich Batten, the other MRC'r in the 45+. After about 4 hours of sleep Saturday night and a 3 hour drive from New York arriving just before the start of the race he laid down a pace in the chase group at the end of lap 2 and much of lap 3. He was at the point of the spear for key parts of the race and, despite running out of gas on the last sprint up Lackey, he had enough to pull a bunch of riders back on the sprint to the finish line and snagged a top 20. A very impressive ride and I shutter to think what he could do with a little better race prep.

Cat 5 race
I pulled into the parking lot to hear an announcement "Last call for Cat 5 registration!" I ran into the school, past two guys sitting on the stairs and signed in. As soon as I was done, the registration person looked past me to the people on the stairs and said "Ok guys, you're in." Apparently they were standby.

I got a little nervous staging because out of a field of 45 or so riders there had to be at least 15 that fit the "what the hell, I'll try a race" category. during the neutral there was a LOT of skidding breaking, etc. This enforced my plan of trying to go on a break after the first time up Lackey to avoid riding down Mendon with these clowns more than I had too. I staged pretty far back, and people who I knew were in for a rude awakening when things ever got serious kept fighting their way forward. On Central, nobody was riding on the right because it was a little rough, so I managed to slip up to about mid pack by the turn onto Uxbridge. I thought I'd get pinched on the turn, but instead everyone went wide and really careful around the turn. I punched it out of the turn and now I was in a lead group of 12 riders with a 50 yard gap back to the pack. Things regrouped on the descent but I managed to stay out of any trouble.

People were obviously nervous about Lackey. Holding my position got hard on the Manchaug road hill, especially since I was thinking of John's advice to conserve there, and the pack started a clockwise rotation with people racing up on the left with forced me back to mid-pack again. I managed to fight my way back towards the front on the flats along the pond and then we hit Lackey for the first time. Caos! Dropped chains, people stalled out in the middle of the road, one guy went off into the woods, everywhere the sound of people who had no idea how to shift under load. I was climbing comfortably, weaving through the mess, trying not to go off the front and conserving for my attack. By the false flat I was about 4 riders back from the front. I looked back thinking about launching and attack, and realized we were down to 15 riders. Really, we didn't go up the hill that fast, Strava says 2:30, yet we'd done some serious damage. I realized the couple riders up front were doing exactly what I wanted, keeping the pace high enough that there wouldn't be a pack on the Mendon road descent. So I settled in. Nobody asked me to do any work, yet the people on front were happy to work. I waged a war for position with a tall NEBC guy who kept forcing his way in front of me on the flats/downs only to open a gap I had to go around on the short ups on the course. I was amused that a guy in what looked like a faded red cotton jersey was in our group, but dismissed him. Second time up Lackey I was about 10 spots back, hit the corner right, went around the NEBC guy and followed the two leaders up the hill. Now there were just 12 of us. A small guy in an ECV kit who'd done a lot of the work on the previous lap did 90% of the work on this lap, with help from a couple others. I was actually enjoying myself. It was like a nice hard group ride, only I didn't have to do anything.

A couple riders caught up on the descent so we hit lackey with about 20. I was 10 riders back going into the turn. I went around the annoying NEBC guy and a couple others who were clearly suffering, and saw the Red Shirt guy going all out with a gap that was already 50' and growing. I'm glad that I didn't make my normal mistake of hesitating waiting for someone else to start the chase. I took off after him. I looked back after the steep part and saw the gap was huge. There was a ball of riders but nobody was chasing us that hard. I continued to chase Red Shirt, but I was really hurting. He was hurting too. I couldn't close down the gap, but he wasn't pulling away either. I was hoping that he'd misjudged it and would blow up soon, but no luck. I stood up for a sprint at 200m, but it must have looked really sad.

He won the race and I came across 4 seconds later for 2nd. The ECV guy got 3rd, and he was closing fast on us at the end.

race results had predicted me to finish 3rd. The guys who finished 1 and 3 turned out to be the standby riders from the stairs. So I beat everyone who pre-reg'd. Even though race results said that some other guy must win it.

Nice job Chris. One rule of thumb, never underestimate the Fred in the jersey he found under his bed. Ask John how that worked out....