The lesson from yesterday’s race: Teamwork and patience (plus a touch of luck) lead to good things…

Max and I were the only ones out for the men’s 4-5 races yesterday at Cargas, but no matter, we were going to put on a show. For those who have never been there, this course starts out with an easy left then a long sweeping downhill left that delivers you to the last corner, a challenging 90 degree, fast downhill left that puts you on the final straight which is a 500 meter, uphill drag to the finish. This hill is similar, but longer to the finishing straight at the Lemon Hill crit. There was no 200m “To Go” sign on the course so before the race I paced out the course with my cycling computer to see where it was. I knew people would begin the sprint as soon as we came off the last turn which was way too early given that it was 500m uphill. Making mental note of the 200m mark (a driveway just past a parked Subaru STI) I headed to the line.

Now, max is riding very well these days, but let’s face it, he simply puts too small a hole in the air for a big guy like me to get a good lead out in the sprint so Max’s job was to look after me and keep things spicy in the last laps. As for the lead-out, Shirks was there in force and these guys always finish well so my plan was to stalk them and let them do the lead-out for me. And so we began. Things were pretty basic for the first half. I rode the wheels of the shirks guys most of the time and Max stuck by me, even giving me a little push up the hill on a few occasions. At 10 laps to go things started to get interesting. Shirks sent their first man up the road as a counter attack off the first prime. No one paid much mind and he just dangled a few seconds off the front. When he got caught the next Shirks guy countered to the same result. As he was caught coming to 2 laps to go the 3^rd Shirks guy attacked (are we seeing a pattern yet?) This time the field wasn’t inclined to give any leeway and the big man in blue and white dangled just 20 meters off the front with 5 other men, the peleton roiling behind. At this moment, as I advanced up the right side, there was max, just on the front of the main group. I came up behind and yelled, “go Max GO!” And away he went; head down he drilled it, delivering me nicely right to the front bunch. Had I had to close the gap myself, things would not have gone so well.

We’re now rocketing onto the bell lap and thankfully two GS Lancaster guys were at the front, one doing a big lead-out for his teammate. There were some QCW guys and others behind and then me at about 7^th wheel. As we made the sweeping downhill turn I kept thinking, “please keep going fast up there; keep it strung out and single file.” If those men slowed and we got overwhelmed coming into that final turn, carnage would have ensued. Well they kept the pace high and it was single file through the last turn. (insert big sigh of relief here!)

Just as I expected, the men at the front went for the sprint from the turn. I sat in, patiently waiting for 200 meters to go. I hopped from one wheel to the next as men in front blew up. Finally (it seemed an eternity) we got to that driveway I had picked as the launching point for my sprint. I came off the wheel in front, moved to the center of the road and went with everything I had. Max put the ball on the tee and handed me the driver. Now I just needed to smash it down the fairway. His effort throughout the race on my behalf inspired some extra horse power at this moment. One by one I overtook the remaining riders in front, their legs failing due to a hasty and premature beginning to their sprint. At 40 meters to go I passed the final GS Lancaster man who had been set up so perfectly by his teammate. There was now just one QCW man in front. I tired with everything to reach him but the finish line came too soon. On the contrary, another QCW man was coming hard on the right and gaining on me. At the line I through the bike and honestly didn’t know if I had 2^nd or 3^rd. In fact no one watching knew either. If I beat him it was by the mere width of a tire. Well I never saw the photo finish but in the end the results showed #434 in 2^nd place. Max and I had worked well together for a great result and momentum going into Fitchburg.

Those final, desperate pedal strokes across the line will be my last taken in anger in the lead up to Fitchburg. Many other of your men’s cat 4 team will be making their final preparations for Fitchburg on the race course this coming weekend so look for some exciting action then. With strong results of late, and more importantly a lot of strong, effective team work, we head to Massachusetts July 3-6 to do battle against the nation’s best. Look forward to some excitement. Your men’s cat 4 team is going to make an impact!