Jiminy Peak - Cat 3 - 05/01/2009
93 starters, 90 km (3 – 30km loops)
Brian Campbell 12, David Chiu, Jay Robbins
When I woke up it was drizzling and I was mentally preparing for a miserable day of racing. Luckily the rain moved out of the western part of the state and it was sunny and pleasant out. Overall, I was surprised at how flat the course was with only one medium length climb at the end. Unfortunately for me, the field was probably going to stay intact and positioning was going to be critical coming off RT 7 to ensure a solid finish on the climb.
The race started out jittery with riders cutting around. I probably contributed as I adjusted to my race wheels and shoes which are much lighter. It had been almost 6 months since my last CAT 3 race and I had forgotten how much pack movement there is in this category. Keeping your position required constant work, however, the pace is slower and we were frequently in the mid 20s. An approximate 5 rider break formed early in the lap as I stayed content in the pack. The shoulder also pulled a nice disappearing act on RT 7 a few times after being the width of a lane, so on the next lap and decided to try the left side.
On the second lap, we caught the first break however 3 riders launched on the false flat. Overall the pace seemed the same maybe even slower but the climb was faster.
For the third lap, I was in roughly in the middle of pack with Jay and Dave in front of me. 92 riders and I decided it would be good to be near the front for the final climb. I started to move up on RT 7 and everyone else did, net gain 0. The solution was to have a teammate take some exposure up the side to ensure good positioning. Jay volunteered for the task and sacrificed his finish to protect Dave and myself. Everything was going great until a rider cut into our group and I got split and before I knew it 5 riders were blocking me. I ended up boxed in with few options other than riding up the double yellow and exposing myself. Instead, I choose to sit back and look for an opportunity to move up (which never came). Also during the last lap we caught one of the break riders but the other 2 where gone so we were racing for 3rd.
The climbing pace for the finish was not too bad; however I was towards the back at the start. My biggest problem was getting around people. It drives me bananas to have to hit the brakes on hills but I had no choice as people were moving everywhere, hmmm … if only I had better position. I had worked my way into the top 20 by the final steep pitch before the finish and had yet to use the after burners. A lot of the riders in front were fading and I could sense a 6th or 7th was possible. I jumped to the left side and just started to pound the pedal when a Tufts rider cut right in front of me. I had to hit my breaks, drop into the 39, and almost stop. By the time I got myself up to speed I could only pull out 12th. Rats, no points.
Overall not a terrific performance on my part and positioning again was my nemesis. What really frustrated me was never getting a chance at some open road on the climb. It would have been better for me if the race were another 30km. Oh well, this just how racing works out, back at it next week.