Marblehead 1/2/3 race report - Roy Van Cleef- 3-30-08
First off, nice work to Andrew, Geoff and all the other cat 4’s that represented at Marblehead.
Unfortunately we couldn’t match those numbers and only had four representatives in the 1/2/3 race. John Broussard, Peter Shapiro, Jason Sears and myself. I was paranoid that there would be a repeat of last year with 15 or so riders going off in the break so I spent the first 5 laps near the front, trying to get in every break that had a few of the main teams represented. But nothing seemed to be sticking so I cowered off to the back of the pack to recover my tired legs a little. Both John and Peter were looking strong near the front. And I think Jason was doing the same as me and just moving back and forth in the pack. A solo Fiordifrutta rider went off the front with 7 to go and stayed away for 4 or 5 laps but otherwise nothing eventful happened (especially not at the back). With 2 to go I worked my way back to the front. Infact with one to go I was on the front but that didn’t last long. All the big teams had there leadout trains so there was a lot of jostling and bumping. I guess I was about 20th around the sharp turn and then up the hill all the leadout men were dying and John and I went out wide to avoid them. At the top I was spent so I just sat on some guys wheel and made a half hearted sprint for 9th but my legs weren’t cooperating.
John and Peter also did well both finishing in the top 30.
Roy