A New England Masters Cycling Team

Lined up with 35/45/55 fields combined; probably 80 riders total. Neutral 3 mile start that was, well, neutral. The race started at 1k to go to the finish/feedzone, so we got to see that twice before the finish. At the start, the official said the "wall" was 12 miles in so I knew that the rollers, and the 3-step main climb were not it. A few attacks went off the front, but nothing stuck. The first time up the wall--yes, it really was very steep, with 2 major pitches--I felt good. In fact after riding the first steep pitch in the saddle, I poked at my shift lever and found out I still had the 25 left in reserve! Sweet! I hit that gear about 25 yards from the top, because I was pretty near the front and was trying to save energy. Things were strung out cresting the hill, and the 8-10 guys in front of me seemed to be "right there" so I eased up assuming everything would come back together. I knew Ed was in the group with Funk, Officer and Bill T. and a couple others so I saw no reason to close the gap. After the S-turns and the sharp right-hander back onto Rt. 143, they were just ahead of the remnants of the field, maybe 5 sec. up the road and Wade said "Ed's up there" so...I interpreted that to mean field shutdown mode was the way to go. And shut it down we did. Sumner (CBRC) and Wiejak (Verge) also had teammates helping Wade, Matt and I, and we didn't so much shut things down as just ride near the front and jump on any solo flyers. A few serious attacks went--many by Steve Roszko, who must have attacked a dozen times the rest of the race. But...can you say marked man? Steve wasn't going anywhere alone. Wade was up the road with Steve at one point with a decent gap.

By the beginning of lap 2, it seemed pretty certain the break was gone although Wade and I both thought we caught a glimpse of them at one point. It then became a race within a race. Just before the main 3-step climb Wade told me he was going to try something, and I was thinking the same thing so I thought I'd just counter if it didn't work. He went, got a small gap, was caught half way up the climb, so I went on the last steep pitch, got a small gap, and was caught at the top. Oh well, you can't win if you don't play. The wall was nasty the second time, and my legs really felt it but I think I was in the majority on that one and we probably shed a few more guys. When we rolled out on 143 again, a CRCA guy went solo (another multi-attack dude) and I was right at the front, so I decided to just go ahead and make the worst textbook move you can and roll/attack from the front. It worked and a 3rd guy bridged up to us but that really went nowhere. The CRCA guy went again, and held a pretty good gap for awhile but the headwind was nasty on the back side of the course.

After the last turn onto 301 with about 6 miles to go, I tried to cover the front as much as I could, knowing Wade and Matt had a better chance at the finish. I jumped on Roszko once, and one other guy once, and then Steve went again and Matt covered and it seemed like it might be the move. Steve was caught but Matt managed to hold of most of the charging field. The last 1k was deceiving with one sharp rise and another little rise to the line. I tried not to let up, and passed many guys, finishing right at the tail of the exploded field.

Ed took second and I'd say the day was a great day of teamwork. Too bad the payout was a water bottle and t-shirt. The race was very reminiscent of Tokeneke and Wachusset last year. Serious break goes up the road, and we do our job at the back without questions, then have some fun in the last lap. What more can you ask for? Paul had bad legs and Gary an untimely flat, but the 3 of us did the job anyway. I like the course a lot; I hope the race stays around for a few years. Too bad the season's over pretty much for me though. Wait 'til next year, as they say.