Minuteman Road Club

http://www.road-results.com/race/3370
Cat5 (they also split this field into 2 groups this year last minute, allowing for more riders to race) - I thought I had a good chance of a decent placing in this one after meeting up with Rob the previous week to burn through the course. But someone forgot to tell us that 4 or 5 guys were sandbagging the field. The first four in were faster than the 4 field, and the leader's time was on par with the front of the 3 field. So, that aside...

Race started as I expected, mostly downhill, not much pressure anywhere. So little, that I ended up 'pulling' for a lengthy portion down West Hawley so I didn't have to keep breaking. Once we hit E. Hawley though, I could see I wasn't going to be able to quite keep up with the front. Did what I could without blowing up, but they were pulling away. For a while after I had hopes of catching them before R.9, but I didn't have many to work with. Pulled together about 6-7 guys, but they weren't able to hack it on the flats. Lost a couple on some hills. Down to about 5 by the feedzone.
After turning on R.9, I decided I didn't feel like pulling all of them along (everytime I tried to drop off the front, the pace slowwwwed) so I made a jump ahead and the only one who kept up was a junior. Ended up pulling his a@% into the headwind for a good 10 miles and kept having to actually tell him it was his turn to pull. I knew he was a climber, too...
The last steep incline before the grade lowers to the park entrance he jumped away... I couldn't have done much more, so I let him go. I think he underestimated my flat-road engine. After I finished the hill I turned on the burners... Went full sprint after turning in and just beat him to the line. Ended up we were fighting for 8th. Given I'm not really a 'climber' (and above comment concerning the cat5 superhero who hasn't upgraded) I'm alright with this.

I'll keep working on the climbing while I'm still out here in the Berkshires, and hopefully next year I'll be able to keep up with the pace.

Great result! Can't believe that guy that won (or the who took second) isn't AT LEAST a cat 4 already.

The Cat 3s had around 50 riders at the start, pretty similar turnout to past editions. Usually nothing happens until 20 miles in with the climb up Berkshire East (East Hawley rd) but apparently some freak decided to solo off the front well before the climb. More on that in a sec. I had a brush with disaster when striking a random cone on the yellow line which officials said was there "for our safety" but managed to hold my line and stay upright. On to East Hawley. I was not at the front and know my limits on a 20 min climb so I rode within myself in group 2, which got established about 2 miles in when it kicked up again. East Hawley is a 4 mile climb with an avg grade just under 6%. It's super steep at points, exposed to the sun and features a long false flat at the top. The lead group of about 12 had maybe 30 seconds over the top of the climb and our chase group of 5 (?) quickly got to work. We were pretty busted from the climb but managed to squeak out just enough to catch back on a few miles later. There wasn't much rest when we joined groups and the pace stayed hot right to Rt 9, the final climb to the finish. At the bottom of the climb (think Quabbin finish) we saw a police car a minute up the road along with single rider. This was the brave (or stupid) stud who attacked solo 50 miles earlier. Impressive. The headwind may have helped him stay away on 9, although it was close and the results only show him winning by a few seconds (he did the same thing in the cat 4 race last year supposedly). I thought I was cooked after the first steep kick on 9 but miraculously my legs snapped back and I was able to respond to the mini attacks. Head wind, out of the saddle, big ring, ouch. A few guys did pop and we (finally!) hit the turn for the 200 meter finish with like 12 guys. With Jason Croteau in our group I knew we were fighting for third and I simply didn't have the legs to surge ahead of the group. 9th place. Finally a top 10 at Hilltowns. Between this and the JAM Fundo yesterday I should be ready for Catskills. If not, I'll try to enjoy the pretty views.

PJ, Mike, great job by each of you. PJ, I can't believe the guts and wherewithal you have to hold back on the climb and then get people organized to chase back on. Amazing.

I have to admit, this is the single day race I fear. One of these years I will have to conquer the fear and do it. The only race I fear more is the stage race of the Tour of the Catskills. Good luck PJ. That Devil's Kitchen is the real deal. Save it all for that climb.

Although I knew it was a lofty goal my mindset going into the race was, 1) stay with the lead group onto the E. Hawley climb, 2) get over the top in, maybe, the top 10, and 3) hopefully, hang-on to a top 10 position.

I accomplished the first objective, but was in the back of the pack when we hit the climb, and that was not a good place to be. The yellow line rule on that very narrow road made it difficult to get around slower climbers, and I even rubbed the back wheel of a rider in front of me but managed not to hit the pavement. One of the riders next to me got relagated to the back for going over the line. After working my way out of the bunch, I settled-in and got over the top with, I estimate, about 6 - 8 riders ahead of me. 2nd objective met.—Things are looking good!

Now over the climb, I sat-up for a couple of riders and we pulled back riders until we ended-up with a group of about 8. Soon the E. Hawley climb then the chase took its toll and I started to fade. I let-up on a downhill to take a gel, and I was off the back. I thought I was gone for good, but one of the NCC riders passed, and I got on his wheel. He pulled for the next mile or two until we got back on. I was shocked that he got us back up to the group. It was a very impressive effort!! The group fell-apart at the feed station, and I got into another group of about 5. The headwind on Rt. 9 was rough! When the headwind combined with the steep hills near the end my legs started to cramp — first my quads then my hamstrings. I had to slow down or risk my legs completely locking-up (which had apparently happened to about a half-dozen other riders who had stopped). I fell off that group with about 3 miles to go, and came in alone.

I'm trying not to be too hard on myself after not being able to stay with, not one, but two groups, and cramping. Perhaps better pre-race hydration & carbo-loading?? Came in 15th (2nd Cat 5 race) . . . not bad, I guess, for my first road race.

Well done hilltowners! It takes guts just to toe the line at this race. Finishing is guaranteed to make you stronger.

I lined up with 74 other racers in the cat 4 field. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect fitness wise as I had been doing mostly sustained threshold type efforts with little race level intensity work the past 6 weeks. As the other guys had mentioned this race usually explodes 20 miles in when you hit the big climb then everybody kills themselves for the next 35miles trying to reach the finish. In an effort to have something left for the finish my goal this year was to see if I could actually conserve some energy on East Hawley by keeping it steady rather than going crazy up the long climb. Looking back I think I probably took it too easy on the climb as a bigger group than I wanted pulled away at the top. Don’t get me wrong, I really suffered climbing this sucker, I just didn’t absolutely kill myself trying to stay with the leaders. Luckily the lead group didn’t have much diesel power in it so my group was able to catch back on within 10 miles or so.

This brought us to the last section of this race, the long drag back to the finish along rt9. This catches you off guard because it’s actually around 15miles on big open roads, trending upwards. If the East Hawley climb doesn’t waste you this section will.

With 10 miles to go we were a group of around 30 with two up the road. At every incline the group would surge, slowly dropping people off. Around 3 miles out I was feeling bad but I could see almost everyone else was too, gaps started to form in our group and im using too much energy to close them down. This is where I burnt my last match. At 1K to go I let the elastic band snap and have been regretting it ever since. This is right where it flattens out. I could have gotten a second of recovery and sprinted for a very tasty result. I wished I would have shot down a caffeinated GU right around 5 miles out. That would have given me just enough to hang on until the end. Getting close so I can’t complain.

What a race!

Great results everyone! On a super-hot day too. I wish I could have been there.