Sterling Men 4/5 35+ Report - 5-13-08
Sterling Classic Road Race, 10 May 2008
Men 4/5 35+
3 laps / “24” miles
71 starters
NEBC Riders:
16th Bill Chiarchiaro (listed as Fitchburg Cycling from previous license)
24th Jack Dolmat-Connell
28th Kurt Reiner
33rd Gregory Wasik
39th Jody Adamonis
43rd Michael Brown (entered unattached, but a member of NEBC)
51st Lester Bethel
Graduates of this year’s NEBC Intro to Racing Clinic included Bill, Greg, Jody, and Mike.
This was my first-ever mass-start race, so it was a rather interesting experience. This is probably more of a personal, individual account than an a proper, overall report. But, during the race, I was very focused on surviving what was happening right next to me! If anyone else has more information to share, please feel free to post a follow-up.
Greg, Jody, and I saw each other before the neutral start, but didn’t work out any plan. Some aggression and tension began during the neutral start, along with some confusion. There were some riders over the yellow line before getting to the center of town, and then others not realizing that we could use the whole width of the road going up the start / finish hill.
Pretty much immediately the first time over the line, a break of three
guys headed off. Soon, a fourth bridged to them. The rest of us weren’t
concerned and didn’t really chase. The four were reabsorbed by about halfway around the first lap.
Echoing what Brian Campbell wrote about the Men 4 race, I was very frustrated by being boxed in. From the beginning, I was staying near the front. I’d get on a wheel, but then going up an incline or approaching a turn, the guy would slow down, and there’d be surges up one or both sides—- and none of those guys would be interested in letting someone else squeeze in.
After a couple of times of struggling my way back up near the front only to get surged again, I decided that I’d try to be right on the front during lap 2. I figured it would be worth spending the energy to avoid being stuck toward the back when going up the S/F hill or when a serious break might go.
So, that’s what I did for most of lap 2. To avoid burning up all my energy, I’d pedal at an endurance pace that I could keep up for a long time. After a few minutes, someone would decide this was too slow and come around me. But, it wouldn’t be a big surge of riders; I’d be able to get on his wheel. At the next turn or rise, I’d get on the front again and repeat the cycle. I don’t know how much you can expect to get away with this, but it seemed to work okay during lap 2.
During laps 2 and 3, there was another NEBC rider consistently near the front, either Jack, Kurt, or Les. I didn’t have any brain power to spare for introducing myself…
There was another break during lap 2 or early in lap 3 that didn’t cause much alarm. After getting onto Rt. 12 in the third lap, the race began to heat up. Two NHCC riders attacked, before I-190 if I remember correctly. That resulted in a real chase which brought them back in less than a minute. The pace remained high, and I was about 10 riders back from the front. Things got a little sketchy. The guy in front of me did some sudden braking, and I had to do a quick, sharp correction (that didn’t run into anyone else) to not hit his wheel. After that, I twice heard spokes getting hit by pedals in front of me.
On the little climb up to the junction with Rt. 62, I was roughly 10 or 15 riders back. A surge began on the left. This time, it wasn’t because anyone was slowing down; it just appeared to be stronger guys attacking. I was able to move out the left and get behind them. I passed a few of the riders who had been in front of me, but the others accelerated too. Going around the last turn to the S/F hill, it looked like there were 10 to 20 riders ahead of me. I passed one going up the hill. I had decided to spin seated in a low gear, but that might have been a mistake. I felt like I wasn’t generating as much power as I could have, so it might have been better to have geared a little higher and stood more. Then again, I was very out of breath going over the line, so maybe I was just plain worn out at the point.
As far as I was able to tell, there had never been any real separation in the pack. Every time I looked back, I always saw a mass of riders. After the race, Greg mentioned that there had been a separation during the third lap.
I wasn’t aware of any real mishaps during the race, but afterwards I heard that there had been a small crash at the back at the end of lap 1 on the turn to the S/F hill. One rider touched wheels and went down, taking two others with him. They all got up and continued.
Things to work on: Understanding pack dynamics and learning to pick good wheels!
Thanks again to all the Clinic instructors. I felt well prepared in basic skills for this race.
Best regards,