WMSR - Circuit race for the 4s - Julian Gent 7-20
This ended up being a bummer of a race. It was also messy.
There were attacks right from the beginning and the pace was high but comfortable. We caught the 35 plus field pretty quickly and were stuck behind them for a good have lap. The pace car slowed us down to allow a gap and then we caught them again, this time after a half lap they let us buy, a half lap later the 35 plus field went by us and we were neutralized for another half lap. That basically took us to lap 3.
When the race wasn’t neutral there were a lot of attacks. Jesse launched a solo run and just got caught before the KOM. John B. was also very active. I worked on staying out of trouble and hiding in the pack. I finished yesterday with a high placing in the TT so wanted to have a good shot at the finish. The jersey wearer launched two attacks and spent a lot of time not hiding on the front. He even crashed on a breakaway with another rider when he overlapped wheels.
Going into the final hill there was a good jump in the pace, I was feeling very fresh and ready for the finish. I went over the final hill in a good position on John B’s wheel, Peter and Jesse were also right up there. There was basically four-five of us right together. The race leader was pulling on the front up the hill and stayed on the front going down. He was clearly in trouble and NEBC was looking really good for a strong finish. All I was thinking was wait for the right turn everything will open up and we can go.
Then it happened, two guys right at the front banged together and down most of us went. John B. and Jesse stayed upright some how. I hit the guy that fell and landed on the same hip I just injured on Saturday. I jumped up picked up the bike and looked up the road, we had actually been in a huge split so there was still a chance to salvage something. Sprinting to the line I managed 17th place, two spots out of bonus points. Jesse and John B. were delayed by the crash and salvaged a 10th and 12th so they were in the points. Kurt finished 16th also just outside the points.
Peter Shapiro went down hard he is ok but his bike needs a trip to the Cycleloft for new handlebars amongst other things.
Worst off is Brad who went down in a separate crash and broke his collarbone.
Very depressing result in the end broken collarbones, bikes and not much to show for it. It was a real shame as NEBC was lined up almost perfectly for the finish and those at the front including myself were feeling very good. I know I was very confident for the finish as my legs were very fresh. The front group was very aggressive with positioning and that ultimately led to the crash. I was wondering what was going to happen in the final corner as it was, but we never made it.
Julian