Blue Hills CAT 4 RR 5-5-08
Race Summary: Temp Low 40’s and WET WET WET!!!!
4 – 7 mile laps (28 miles)
NEBC Results:
7th Brian Campbell
10th Joshua Tetrault
Les Bethel, James Hall, Jerry Jacobs, Paul Jobin,
Stefan Wawersik, Ian Whittle,
The course was mostly flat except for the Unquity Rd. hill which was a mixture of slight pitches and some short steep sections (similar to Strawberry Hill). All in all, I would rate the climb as fairly easy and the race pace represented this by being fairly fast. There were no markers indicating the finish line but there was a small brown road sign at the bottom of the final pitch before the finish. I figured this is where the big sprint would start. For the last lap, I decided I wanted to be in the top 15 so I could respond to any attacks. My only concern was my ability to sustain the power through the 50 yard flat section at the top before the finish line.
There was a light sprinkle at the start of the race and the roads were already wet. The first two laps were uneventful with a group of 3 riders breaking off the front and maintaining a 100 yard gap. I was making a concerted effort this race to stay at the front part of the field instead of the back. At the start of lap 3, it started pour and I could not see very well. I was debating taking the glasses off, but with road grit getting kicked up I decided to keep them on. The 3rd lap climb was a bit more aggressive but still very manageable.
The elements started to play role by the 4th lap. The road had a thin film of water and there was a lot of spacing between riders (luckily the two right turns were pretty wide). The outside of my glasses developed a thin film of water having magnifying effect (like wears a snorkeling mask under water) and the inside fogged up limiting my vision. I felt the wiser choice would have been to take the glasses off but it was too late, I did not dare take my hands off the handle bars with this much water on the road.
The field picked up the pace immediately after the Unquity Rd turn. Since the turn was slow I had put on a mini sprint to reform with the lead group (I was about 20 back at this point). The field hit the climb at well over 20 mph (not sure on the exact speed since I could not see my speedometer, but it felt very fast). There was a lot of jockeying for position on the climb with riders yelling at each other about the yellow line rule. We continued to shed riders at each steep section and at the small brown sign, a group attacked. I jumped out of my saddle and spirited up to follow. I think I saw an NEBC jersey to the right as I went up (maybe it was Joshua), but I could not tell. At the top, 3 broke ahead and 4 of us followed as we approached a slower rider. I was on the right side of the group so I went right (bad move) however the 3 other riders formed a line and went to the left. I burned out with about 25 yards to go and had to sit and spin as hard as I could.
As I feared the sprint length was just a bit beyond my ability. The other thing I did wrong was bringing a second full large water bottle which I did not touch. I should have realized my hydration requirements in a low 40’s downpour would be significantly less :).
I went to the tent after the race to check the results and I found out that the camera’s generator stopped working during the downpour (the generator was not under the tent but out in the open). I saw the judge’s scratch pad which only had the first 11 places listed and I was 7th.