Long Story Short: First road race ever, 5th place in the 35+ Cat 5, a great weekend!
I took the full day off on Friday to pack up,
make drastic changes to my bike and catch a ride up with my good friends Ronnie Steers and Mark Bernard. We grabbed the GPS and set off towards Cambridge, NY. Three hours of chit chat later we arrived at a wonderful farmhouse that would server as HUP basecamp for the weekend.
After marveling at the gorgeous property and feeding the horses, we set off to get pick up our numbers and get a short pre-ride in. Of course there were some shenanigans. No less than 2 miles down the road Mark 'Jens Voight' Bernard rode us off his wheel. I looked down at my power meter to check the output and it was bouncing right around 400 watts. He claimed he was opening up. Anyway, we got our numbers, made it on to the
local TV broadcast and then headed out for a partial preview. We went through the covered bridge and then checked out the turn on to the first dirt section. It was a suitable place to turn around and get the obligatory covered bridge photos.
The race would wind through the backside of this bridge and hang a hard right
M.Bernard, D.Loszewski, R.Hale, C.Baker and T.Needham
M.Bernard contemplates the irony of a scenic covered bridge in America's Hell of the NorthAfter our warm up ride we arrived back at the farmhouse and were treated to a great dinner mostly prepared by Robert and Chip. Risotto, pasta, garlic bread, and a few brews were consumed. We relaxed by the fireplace talking of our life's ambitions and then called it an evening.
Race morning came and we then rolled a short 3 miles into town where we would lineup. There were 5 of us in the Cat 5 35+ race. Myself, Chip, Robert, Jim and Mark. Ronnie being the youngster of the 30+ guys was all alone, but that didn't matter in the end as he had a super good race coming in 5th place in the Cat 5 under 35.
We promptly started at 10:30 am and I was glad to see that nobody went for the hole shot. There were only 50 of us in this category which was small compared to the 3s and 4s which each had to be split into two separate groups. A few miles into the race,
Chip came to the front of the group and pulled me along because he knew I wanted to be in a good spot should mass chaos unfold in the covered bridge or onto the right turn onto the course's first dirt section. The Cat 5s seemed to be riding smoothly despite the horror stories I had heard... "Get your 10 races done and upgrade to Cat 4 ASAP!"
Bert, T, and Chip NOIR it up for BKillI will not fib or embellish here, I don't recall much of the race. Most of it is a blur except for a few moments of success and failure. At the first climb of the day I worked hard to stay up front to the leaders, not too too many watts but enough that when a small group of about 9 formed we were able to get a gap and then move out on the 2nd climb. There were 2 guys from CRCA/NY Velocity that looked like they raced for Acqua-Sapone, they both had pimped Cervelos and look Euro PRO. How was I supposed to hang with these guys? I remembered "It's Not about the Bike (it's about the wheels)". Unfortunately they both had deep dish carbon wheels too, Hed and Edge respectively, hmmmph. I would trust my faithful Roubaix and its relaxed geometry.
So these guys started barking out orders to the 9 man break. "Double paceline! Echelon right!" and "Short Pulls, DON'T ACCELERATE!" I had recollections of the summer of '93, the parade deck at Parris Island. "To the winds...MARCH"! The voice inside my head was all "WTF?!" as I am one who rarely rides in a group, I felt like a real n00b. It turns out these guys did a great job in getting us organized and away!
Soon we lost two riders who were unable to keep up with our squad. Down to 7 riders with about 45 miles of racing left. After the first dozen rotations I began to relax and get the hang of road racing. One of the guys in the break, Bill, had just ridden the course the previous weekend and was very helpful in letting us know what lie ahead. But I also had the Schema di Attacco that Jeff had us affix to our top tubes, very cool.
J.Bramhall's HUP United Super Corsa Schema di Attacco!The guys in the group were all pretty cool, even the capos from NY Velocity/CRCA. There were no shenanigans and everyone seemed to shared the work. At the half way point I thought it unlikely that the chase group would actually catch us since we were looking like Garmin-Slipstream in last years Giro team time trial (slight embellishment). My biggest problem at this point was that I had gotten some gel, Espresso Gu to be specific, on my left glove and it was sticking to my hood. Gha!
I had one slight scare on a descent that curved sharply to the left when I was out in front. A sequence of myself overcooking the turn, flipping over the bars into a ditch scared me from taking the lead on descents from there on out. I'm not sure following was much better as I had to scrub my speed to stop from passing others or cross the yellow line.
I would occasionally glance down at my computer and the Schema di Attacco to see what was coming up. I was pleasantly surprised at mile 40 to see the feed zone coming up and that meant just a little over an hour of racing left. I remember thinking that I would be screwed if I got dropped. I was tiring a bit, I think a lot of it was my wheel sucking sucked. As soon as the guy said "last" to me and I pulled in behind, there would be a small gap that I
had to close. I chalk it up to fatigue and poor timing.
Coming into the feed zone I had no idea what to expect as I have never grabbed a bottle on the move before (just brownies, cupcakes and dollars). HUP was fortunate enough to have J.Bramhall's wonderful woman Lodrina handing out bottles and musette bags. I had a 16oz bottle of Accelerade that she was going to pass me. Well, with all the grace and coordination of Lewis Skolnick attempting a high five, I slapped the bottle out of Lodrina's hand. I think I was the only person who failed her on the day. Luckily, I had about 10 ounces of Accelerade and a few gels left with 20 miles to go. I will now practice bottle feeds like I they are as important as high speed 'cross dismounts in the fall!
The next significant event I remember was that one of the guys in our break flatted after one of the many dirt sections, I think this was around mile 50. So now we were down to six and my chances of a top 5 were looking good. This is about the point where a lot of riders from several different categories were scattered around the road.
I kept guessing that one of the CRCA dudes would make a break soon, but it did not happen just yet. Finally Stage road and the last climb of the day entered the picture. It was tough enough at mile 55, and that it was dirt with some marbles AND it stair stepped made it all the more challenging. Up the climb I noticed that one of the bigger guys in the break had been dropped. And soon it would be my turn, as this is where my race for the podium ended. I faded on Stage Rd, thinking that I would be able to catch them on the descent. But in reality I was on fumes, letting gaps form, getting annoyed with all the other category riders in "my" line. I still had Bill, the knowledgable course rider in his solid golden jersey in my sights.
At the crest of Stage Road, I could no longer see the leaders which disheartened me. The pavement and fast descent provided a welcome respite along with the thought that I should finish top 5. Still, Golden Bill was in my sights and I time trialed the hell out of my super-relax Roubaix and got all aero in hopes of chasing him down for 4th. Slowly he would fade from my picture, so I started looking behind. The coast was clear. I told myself to keep up the WATTS in case those guys flatted or crashed. Well I kept the watts up and crossed the line in 5th place, looking around to see any familiar faces. I found Ronnie and then watched as my buddies came in. Whaddya know, the CRCA/NY Velocity guys finished 1 & 2. Damn them and their better equipment (including lungs, heart & legs) :-b
I am really happy with the way my race went. I made sure I was in the right position when the break formed after the 2nd climb. I worked hard for the break, but didn't over exert myself. I probably wasn't stronger than the top 4 on Saturday so I cannot complain with 5th. I think my time was around 3:05-ish. If I could change one thing it would be to know the last climb and finish more thoroughly. Also going on fast group rides (like the last 15 miles of l
e Ronde de Blackstone Valley) would help me a great deal.
After the race we jumped in Chip's van and Eli escorted us back to the farmhouse where I enjoyed some Ovaltine, bagel w/ Nutella & banana, and many other goodies. Thanks so much to all the HUP crew, FOHUs and Mike (who was so ridiculously hospitable). Thanks for reading!
See you in 2010 Battenkill!
This was a joy to climb, as it came early and the views were spectacular.
Rosey used the old dollar bill trick on a sliced sidewall. It held out for the rest of the 100+ miles.
The Squadra refuels : Meg, Mark, Steve, Jeff and Scott. A solid group of friends to ride, suffer, and rejoice with.
Throw some BBQ sauce on these legs, cooked well done
Lactic Lockdown up the hill finish 
On top of Pead Hill in Wilton NH. More KOM points here for J.Bramhall.
Recovering and relaxing at the Peddler's Daughter in Nashua
Climbing up Ascutney at the 2008 edition of Vermont Psycho Cross
