Sunday, June 25, 2006
Nothing like nice Summer racing weather…
Well, this was it first official race of Summer at Ninigret. I line up with 23 other fools on the wet pavement. It wasn’t raining at the start, but it was getting foggier looking, windier, and any hope of a window between showers was fading fast. Pretty much ¾ of the field was represented by Casters, Union Velo and Gearworks and I was feeling pretty isolated. I figured given the field and weather, the break was going early and would have all three main teams represented.
From the gun, Casters sent a rider up the road and he dangled for a lap or so. I was watching for a possible counter, and as he came back, several riders attacked including at least one rider from each of the three main teams. I jumped up only to have it come back together. With only 15 min of halfhearted warm-up prior to the race, I wasn’t feeling great, so when the counter-counter went, I couldn’t respond. Unfortunately it had everyone it needed to make it work. Instantly, three Casters guys were up in the front slowing the field down to about 20 MPH. The break of six quickly had about 15-20 seconds on us and started to fade off into the mist.
I and a couple of the other poor solo sods tried a few bridging moves, but between the three strong teams, everything was covered. The break was gaining at least 5 sec per lap, so we weren’t seeing them again (unless they lapped us). If it wasn’t for the fact that the race was paying 10 deep, I was seriously considering bagging out (especially one the rain started coming down in earnest again).
So with thunder starting to rumble in the distance, Sandy tells us its 6 to go a bit earlier than expected. A Casters rider was setting a pace to discourage any further breaks with a Union Velo rider on his wheel, followed by yours truly. Coming through 5 to go the other Casters riders start shouting to the lead guy to stop pedaling and let the break lap us. He and the Union Velo rider sit up going into the first sharp left turn. I figure its now or never, so I make an attack going into the back stretch. I get a good gap with only the Casters rider, who had previously been setting pace, on my wheel. He pulled through and said something to the effect of lets work the remaining laps. I say sure, since if we stay away now, its guaranteed money. We got joined by a Gearworks rider and up to 1 to go, we well working well to build our lead on the pack.
At 1 to go, after I’d pulled through the last turn and into the start finish, the Gearworks guy attacks from the back and got a gap. The Casters rider followed and I was looking at a 3-4 bike length separation. I figured ok, at worst I still hold out for 9th and perhaps I can dig deep and get back on. I settle into TT mode after getting through the two sharp left turns and realized that not only was I not losing any more time to the pair, but gaining a bit. By the time we were approaching the final turn, I was essentially on them again. Since I didn’t think they’d seen me catch back on, I decide to launch my sprint on the left side coming out of the turn rather than catch the wheel, hoping to catch them off-guard. Unfortunately, they too chose to jump at that moment. I dug in, but didn’t manage to get by, catching third in that group and 9th overall. In retrospect, going for third wheel might have been best, but the Gearworks rider managed to hold off the Casters rider while sprinting from the front, so I would have been trying to get around 2 riders. Good thing no-one else from the team was there. The $10 winnings would be awfully tough to share out!
From the gun, Casters sent a rider up the road and he dangled for a lap or so. I was watching for a possible counter, and as he came back, several riders attacked including at least one rider from each of the three main teams. I jumped up only to have it come back together. With only 15 min of halfhearted warm-up prior to the race, I wasn’t feeling great, so when the counter-counter went, I couldn’t respond. Unfortunately it had everyone it needed to make it work. Instantly, three Casters guys were up in the front slowing the field down to about 20 MPH. The break of six quickly had about 15-20 seconds on us and started to fade off into the mist.
I and a couple of the other poor solo sods tried a few bridging moves, but between the three strong teams, everything was covered. The break was gaining at least 5 sec per lap, so we weren’t seeing them again (unless they lapped us). If it wasn’t for the fact that the race was paying 10 deep, I was seriously considering bagging out (especially one the rain started coming down in earnest again).
So with thunder starting to rumble in the distance, Sandy tells us its 6 to go a bit earlier than expected. A Casters rider was setting a pace to discourage any further breaks with a Union Velo rider on his wheel, followed by yours truly. Coming through 5 to go the other Casters riders start shouting to the lead guy to stop pedaling and let the break lap us. He and the Union Velo rider sit up going into the first sharp left turn. I figure its now or never, so I make an attack going into the back stretch. I get a good gap with only the Casters rider, who had previously been setting pace, on my wheel. He pulled through and said something to the effect of lets work the remaining laps. I say sure, since if we stay away now, its guaranteed money. We got joined by a Gearworks rider and up to 1 to go, we well working well to build our lead on the pack.
At 1 to go, after I’d pulled through the last turn and into the start finish, the Gearworks guy attacks from the back and got a gap. The Casters rider followed and I was looking at a 3-4 bike length separation. I figured ok, at worst I still hold out for 9th and perhaps I can dig deep and get back on. I settle into TT mode after getting through the two sharp left turns and realized that not only was I not losing any more time to the pair, but gaining a bit. By the time we were approaching the final turn, I was essentially on them again. Since I didn’t think they’d seen me catch back on, I decide to launch my sprint on the left side coming out of the turn rather than catch the wheel, hoping to catch them off-guard. Unfortunately, they too chose to jump at that moment. I dug in, but didn’t manage to get by, catching third in that group and 9th overall. In retrospect, going for third wheel might have been best, but the Gearworks rider managed to hold off the Casters rider while sprinting from the front, so I would have been trying to get around 2 riders. Good thing no-one else from the team was there. The $10 winnings would be awfully tough to share out!
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