Minuteman Road Club

In the Masters 40+ at Sunapee. About 55-60 riders in the field, and plenty of studs in it. 2 laps around the lake so 46 miles. With big CCB, Keltic, CVC, and OA teams I decide that I am going to watch their wheels.

Race starts off relatively easy and the first lap doesn’t have much that is memorable. I start off near the back of the pack, and about 5 miles in, I changed strategy and moved up the right to near the front. Basically, it dawned on me that sitting at the back of the pack with these animals at the front might cause me to get dropped on one of the climbs without even knowing it. So from then on I pulled a “Pare” and stayed in the first 10-15 wheels most of the race.

Somewhere near the end of the 1st lap, the pace picks up with some attacks and chases going on. I am right in the mix. A guy goes off the front (it turned out to be Tom Francis) and I don’t see the Keltic guys chasing so I sit in. Finally some CCB guys (Paul Richard and Ciaran Mangan) start pushing the pace so I go with them. All of a sudden I look back and we are in a mini-break of six. The guy in front of me is in front but not pulling over after his turn. I don’t understand and then I feel a push from behind and yelling for me to go by him. I do my pull and pull over and Ciaran goes by me and yells that the guy is blocking for his teammate (Fitwerx). We do one more round of pulls but then the pack catches us.

The whole pack is moving fast at this point (at one point I see were are going 35-40 mph on a near flat). The hills got really hard here, as the pace was really frentic going up the hills. I hear the CCB guys and other teams talking about working to get Francis, but all teams don't really seem committed to it as the Keltic guys are not doing anything to try to pull Francis back. CCB is and surprisingly Mike Rowell of NEBC is doing a lot of work solo. It was really fun being right among these guys as they tried to push each other to chase.

Maybe 5 miles from the finish, we hit a big hill and I really feel shattered. A group of 8 or 9 guys go away from the rest of us. I just can’t stay on their wheels up the hill and hope we can catch back on the downhill. No dice. None of us in the pack want to do the work to chase. The breakaway are all within sight the rest of the race (maybe 300-400m but we never catch them).

Our pack, now racing for 10-11th place, go around the final rotary and the explosion happens up the hill. Guys are going backwards and others are going to the front. I am cramping, but I must feel better than most and I go around everyone in my pack on the first step of the hill and am 1st wheel with the line very close. However, just before the line 6 or 7 guys sprint by me. I got 16th. Very happy with my race. Maybe I could have done something different at the end and not lose those places or maybe could have went with the break, but that’s racing.

Thanks to Bill for bringing the beer. That cold beer was just awesome. Great to chat about our races after with Bill, Stefan, PJ, Rob, and Carl.

Nice to meet another MRC rider in the field, Drew Davis. Drew said he is a CX guy so I look forward to seeing him more

Stage 1 Sunapee Road Race

I started out at the back of the pack knowing not much was going to happen until we hit the rollers on RT 11. Once we turned onto RT 11 the pace was extremely slow. It continued this way until the climb started. Once we hit the climbing lane part of RT 11 things picked up. I was in good position but started to max out. Toward the top a small gap opened with several riders going away. I had nothing left. Stefan on the other hand launched an attack. I grabbed a wheel, sat back and watched. Just has Stefan bridged, Rob came up along side me. I asked him to sit in because Stephan was in a break. Rob graciously sat in allowing the gap to open. Unfortunately, Stephan being maxed like the rest of us couldn’t quite hold on over the final kicker. I’m sure if he knew the course he would have stuck there. Anyway with 5 or 6 off the front on lap one I figured it wouldn’t last. Several miles later, Rob decided to get aggressive and launched an attack over one of the backside risers. I was in position to try and block but there was not interest from the field, so I sat in and watched again. Rob dangled out there for several miles until the pace in the field got so slow that the fliers from the back began. Toward the end of the lap one Carl and Stefan decided enough is enough and tried to organize the chase. The gap was around a minute at this time. These guys managed to string things out and invoked others to lead the charge. RT 11 was pretty aggressive but then the field got pretty content. After a couple of futile attacks it came apparent it was going to end up a field sprint for the final money spots. Once again I watched and hoped I could pick enough off for a top 20. The legs failed on the finishing climb and ended up 22nd or so. I have to say it was a fun day to sit in and watch and probably should have done more but hell I brought the beer.

Stage 2 Laurel City NETRA Hare Scramble

What the hell was I thinking? I had a fair start and just scouted my lines crossing the line in fourth on lap 1. On lap 2 I found the throttle and came across leading. Things went downhill from there. Between double hamstring cramps and bad choices I was back in fourth after lap 3. From lap 3 to the final lap I was in a great battle for the final podium spot. The rock garden on halfway through the final lap was my downfall. After stalling my steed twice my nemeses came around me never to be seen again.

All in all a great weekend of two wheeled racing with bikes and rider in one piece.

I needed a day to chew on this one, as I had some good and some bad.

The good: After a gentle start, things started to heat up on the first long climb, which was no monster, but I was definitely working hard. As we crested the longest part onto a short downhill, 4 guys pulled off the front. I watched them work together nicely and get about 100 m on the group and figured it was a good move. A kid from KMS jumped to bridge, and I followed shortly thereafter. I caught the kid about halfway across. He was starting to struggle and was small and didn't offer much draft, so I went around and finished the job. We connected with the break, but unfortunately it was just before we hit another short kicker. After 2 minutes WAY above threshold I was crosseyed, and after a quick look back, I could see the pack rolling up, so I sat up. That "pack" turned out to be 4 more guys trying to bridge, so once I realized that, I jumped on the back.

The bad: 1) once we got to the top of the kicker, we had a long, fast downhill. Had I known the course, I would have dug deeper to get on the break and then recovered on the downhill. 2.) The second group got caught by the pack. The first group rolled off - we could see them for a while, but we never caught them and they finished 1:44 up on the group. I should have been in that group.

The good: After recovering from my break efforts, I went back to the front, where the "chase" was half-hearted at best. Bill and I blocked for a while, as Rob was part of a two-man bridge effort that had made it about halfway to the break. I stayed up near the front for all of the steep climbs on the backside of the course.

The bad: Some of those climbs were much steeper than I'd expected. The hardest of these started out in full sun, and was hot enough that I felt really crappy. I let this get in my head and bring back my old climbing phobias. In hindsight, I was not losing any positions - and I think I was even gaining - and should have focused on this instead of the fact that it hurt and I wasn't sure I could do it again.

The good: A third guy tried to get across to Rob, and that spurred the pack to get cracking. Once Rob got reeled in, though, everyone sat up. Several teams had 2 or 3 people at the front, and I asked whether they had someone in the break. None of them did. One UVM kid kept saying "I'm not going to do all the work and tow everyone back." However, after several people (including Carl) expressed a willingness to work, we managed to get a semi-functional rotating paceline going at the front. After a little while we could see the break in the distance on the long straight stretches.

The bad: Once we started going more steadily uphill, the wheels fell off the chase. I went to the front and put in a last ditch effort to spur things again, but when nobody came through, I said "screw it."

The really bad: When we hit the next long climb, I let that "screw it" attitude get too far into my head. I felt lousy and first started to sag climb, then fell off the back. I felt crappy and gave up, repeating my biggest mistake in climbing. Having put in the big effort at the bottom did not help me, but this should not have happened.

The marginally good: When the main group rolled away, it looked to be about half the size it was at the start, and I knew I had made a significant contribution to that attrition. I ended up in a group of 4 with Carl that held steady for a while just off the back of the main pack. We kept coming close to connecting, but just couldn't get there. We did catch and pass a bunch of guys who were shelled from the front group and (I think) we had swelled to about 10-12 guys by the north end of the lake. Then we hit the climbing.

The painful: On the big climbs the group started to fall apart. Carl and I stayed near the front of our chase group until near the end, when two guys rolled away. I was in a bad way, so I concentrated on simply setting a steady tempo to the finish and rode the last few miles at my own pace. The cold Corona Bill put in my hand in the parking lot may have been the best beer I've ever had.

So, to summarize: I had an impact on the race and rode strong for a good long time. I also at least recognized the promising break before most people did - I'm working on developing a better sense for sniffing out the breaks - and almost had the power to bridge to it (and the balls to try). For those reasons, I'm OK with this race. But I'm pissed at myself for backsliding on my newfound climbing confidence and I need to work on that. If you see me giving up on a climb, please feel free to disparage me.

Racing and mixing it up with the big guns John. Outstanding result

A combined P/1/2/3 field meant I had the modest goal of "don't get dropped" for this one. Big field of 100 riders.

Lap 1: Fast, but manageable. Three crashes at different points made things rather tense. I worked hard on the climbs but stayed in contact.

Lap 2: A strong 12-man breakaway with Myerson, Dylan McNicholas, KMS, Embro dudes, and MRC alum Stephen Wright escaped somewhere, but this was of no concern to me (see above goal). The hills felt the hardest on this lap, particularly the long climb on 103 and the double whammy on 103A.

Lap 3: Crucial moment early in the lap on 103 as the pack drives hard to reel in the break. Guys are popping on the long climb and holes begin to show. I was at my limit and a small group starts hammering me off their wheel. It felt like do or die so I worked like hell and bridged-up. Hello pain cave! I'm not sure this effort was necessary as most of the pack caught back on on the descent. Several riders were dropped here so who knows, maybe it worked out for me. The break was caught shortly after on Rt. 11. It's surprising they were caught with so many studs involved but apparently they weren't working well together. The last 10 miles weren't as bad as I thought. Catching the break probably helped me here as we likely slowed down. On the last roller before the rotary I made my way up the right side/breakdown lane (works every year!) to get in position for "the sprint." I knew I was pretty shattered but figured I might as well give it a go. I began the climb into the ski area like 30th or so but couldn't hold the pace as things cooked up. My sprint was more like survival and I rolled in on the coat tails of the bunch for 35th. I met my goal, finished with the main pack, and am satisfied. While this shows I could race with the Cat 2s, I'm not sure I'm super eager to do so at the moment.

The best part was the Corona Bill gave me in the parking lot. It disappeared. In a hurry. Also nice hearing the studly efforts from the Cat 4 team and kudos to John for killing it!

Noteworthy observations:
- Not a surprise, but much faster (and smoother) than a straight Cat 3 race (avg speed of 25mph)
- At over 4,000 ft climbing this had more elv. gain than Battenkill at the same distance which I didn't expect (bul certainly felt!)
- While bike handling is much tighter in the pro's crashes indeed occur (3 total)
- I had both my all time highest 5 and 10 min. power outputs (Strava calculation) on route 103. Faster guys make you work harder!

Very impressive PJ. Pack finish but also to 50% of a Pro/1/2/3 field!!!

Great racing out there this weekend guys. Great workout, everyone made it through safe, and loads of fun. For me this race played out pretty much exactly the same as the previous week at Purgatory. It took me few days of flashbacks and reading the other guys reports to figure this out.

• Early in the race and I’m surfing near the front feeling great.
• A few guys break off the front.
• Shortly after a few guys come back from the break and I think it’s over. It takes me a few minutes to realize there is still a group up the road. By this point it’s too late.
• I talk it up at the front trying to organize a chase, we just can’t get it going.
• Try to bridge.
• Turn myself inside out trying to catch the break.
• Suffer through the rest of the race like a wounded animal.

It was really great to have all the MRCers around, whether it was in the 4’s with us or John cheering us on as we came up the finishing climb or getting PJ a beer right after he rolled in with the big boys.

Ready for the next one!

Fun to read about everyone's races. Great job. The comments bring back memories as I raced the M45+ several times both with MRC and CCB (Ciaran -- is a hell of a nice guy and a strong rider). I remember it not being really a climbers' race ... more for the 1-2 minute power monsters -- especially the hill 5 miles from finish. It was kind of a different race when it was in early May -- people weren't at a peak (though it was usually 40 degrees and raining) -- so I can only imagine it must have been pretty hard especially with Longsjo cancelled. Nice work, especially Bill with the beer and the 2fer.