Cyclonauts Race Report 6-14-08
n Saturday, 5 CAT 4s raced in Monson, MA at the Cyclonauts Road Race.
The plan going into the race was to get Colby onto the podium. The course is 56 miles with a big loop (32 miles) and a little loop (24 miles), with one climb that includes the finish line on the 2nd lap. In pre-race talks, we agreed that we needed to get Colby in the top 5-10 around the final turn in order to contest the climb.
The race started uneventfully enough… In the first lap Wayne C had a flat, but chased back on. I think Rob knocked wheels with someone and skidded into the bushes on the opposite side of the road, but also chased back on. I spent my time riding at the front of the pack, trying not to pull too much but generally feeling pretty good and not worrying all that much. Colby apparently was feeling the same way, joining a little group that decided (apparently) to get some intervals in about 50 yards ahead of the rest of the field. I heard later that there were 4 different crashes on the first lap – I assume that this was caused by the combination of the mixed 4/5 field, two sets of DEEP train tracks, and some other dicey road spots. The most concerning part of the road was the stretch of road leading into the final corner, and the corner itself – which inexplicably had not been swept pre-race, as far as I could tell.
Anyways, second lap, Rob, Wayne, Chuck, Colby and I were all riding in the top ten for the final 10 miles into the turn. We’d agreed to ride up there and protect our positions and stay rubber-side down. As the speed ramped up into the final turn, Chuck did a great job getting in a few good pulls, we both chased down some attempted breaks and kept Colby out of the wind. I went into the final turn in the first position with Colby on my wheel, exactly where we wanted to be. I’d burnt my last match pulling to the corner, and drifted off to the left to let Colby & another group coming up from the right contest the last uphill mile. Unfortunately, another rider cut across my wheel (from left to right), we touched wheels three times & I went down. No real damage to bike or body other than the expected raspberries. Colby ended up finishing 5th.
All in all, a solid race, we executed on the pre-race plan and got a top 5. A podium and no crashes would have been nice… but it was fun anyways.