Bow Road Race - men's cat 5 35+ - 8-4-08
2008 Bow (Central NH Road Race) Report, Men 5 35+
36 starters
Bill Chiarchiaro – 7th
Randy Bruneau – 22nd
The course:
A hilly 10.9-mile circuit with an initial one-mile (claimed) climb from the start.
The reports:
Bill Chiarchiaro
This was my second real mass-start race, after Sterling earlier this year. I spent the neutral start going up the first climb around 5th or 6th wheel. That was the only part of the course that I had previewed, so not knowing the details of the first descent, I moved onto the front to have a clear view. The pace was moderate through the first lap, and I stayed anywhere from the front to about 8th wheel. Through most of the first lap, Randy and I stayed near each other.
I started wondering about making a move on the second time up the initial climb, thinking that the field might get separated or strung out. But, I recalled that at Sterling, the one or two breaks that tried going on its climb got pulled back quickly, and that the Men 4/5 35+ field stayed together (more or less) through the whole race. I decided that it would be better to wait and watch. So, going up the climb on the second lap, I was following a wheel, figuring that nothing was going to develop at that time. Well, 6 guys accelerated on the left, and while I was sizing up whether I should do anything, they opened a gap. Then two more guys went (Seth Brooker, Belfast Racing Club & Jon Nichols, unattached). I realized that we might have a real break forming, so I pulled out and started chasing. Pretty quickly, it appeared that I had a slim chance of bridging to the front 6, and even getting to the middle two would be hard.
The front 6 kept pulling away, and Seth pulled away from Jon. About halfway through the 2nd lap, I caught up to Jon, and we started working together. We figured catching the front 6 would be very hard, but that we had a shot at catching Seth. We worked well together. I was climbing a little better than Jon, and he liked powering down the descents (interesting, given that he’s 20 lbs lighter than I am). We passed one of the front 6, who was on the side with a flat.
At that point, I was more concerned with not getting caught by anyone coming up from behind than I was with catching the lead 5. A couple of times early in the third lap, I saw what must have been some chasers far behind us. With about one third of this final lap to go, Jon and I caught Seth, and the three of us began riding together. Seth was the biggest of us, so it seemed likely he’d be first in a sprint. Before we reached the last big intersection before the finish, Jon and Seth started jockeying, turning off the power and slowing down. I sat behind them and watched for chasers, but as I expected, none were in sight.
Seth and Jon began a sprint earlier than I felt I could have gone. Instead, I just steadily wound up my cadence, expecting that one of those two guys would fade before the finish line. It turned out to be Jon, and he congratulated me as I passed him, now doing my own out-of-the-saddle sprint. Seth finished 6th, I was 7th, and Jon was 8th. Nice to be in the top 10, but we were 3:20 down from the leaders… This was an interesting course, and I’m already looking forward to racing it again next year.
By the way, I volunteered after my field had raced, and I was joined by Ed Collier—- Ed and I are the Executive Director and Director of Operations of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic. We found the Bow race to be nicely organized and well-run, a very good event!
Randy Bruneau
Bill and I met at the starting line at my first road race in (what it seems like)forever. My training has consisted of commuting between the office and home, 25 miles/ day, trying to vary my training types. I went into the race not expecting much, but hoping to hang toward the front of the pack. The hill at the start of the second lap would prevent me from that goal. I’m not a great climber, yet. The rest of the next two laps, I was in TT mode, trying to catch on someone’s wheel to work together and bridge back. Never happened. I rode the rest of the race alone with 1-2 people (carrots) for me to chase. Just before the line I sprinted and passed one rider. I haven’t checked the standings yet, but I think I finished about middle of the field, 15th or so? I had a great time, with only a little sprinkle mid-race.
Marshalling the next 2 shifts was a lot of fun also, as I was at the
left turn ont