And just like that, it's over

Sometimes you see the end coming, sometines it catches you blind sided.  Sometimes it's for the best, sometimes you wish you had had a little more time together.  But time marches on and, whether you are ready or not, it's now over.  The parting is bittersweet, but at least we ended it with a bang.  If it's better to burn out than fade away, we couldn't have ended it any better.  And best of all, we will have sweet memories to carry us over to the next romance, the next love, or the next 'cross season.  

Well, I tried to be all deep and poetic, but that just isn't me. 

The Ice Weasels cometh, and unfortunately they also go-eth, and in so doing they mark the end of the bicycle racing season in New England.  It's finally time to nurse the sore bones, catch up with the family, and get some of the big ticket items off the honey-do list that has taken a back seat for almost four months now (9 months counting road/MTB seasons). 

For the second year in a row Colin and Tom, with help from Kevin, put on the party of the year at White Barn Farm and they even managed to fit in some bike races to keep us all entertained.  There are a few esential elements that make a party great.  Beer is a given.  They had that covered (for a while anyway) with two kegs of beer from Harpoon.  Music is a must have for any party.  I was happy to supply 800 watts of sound pumping power and an ipod full of tunes (until Tom pulled host priveleges and switched it to his ipod while I was out racing, gotta admit his might have been better). Good food is a must and the boys and girls from HUP had that covered.  Good people and great conversation are the only other ingredients that a great party must have, and they were in abundant supply. 

I arrived at 8:00 to set up the PA system and hopefully still have time to warm up a little before the 10:00 AM Cat 4 race.  It was nice being parked on the same side as the race course this year.  Folks, if you want to get a good parking spot at next years race, just offer to bring some heavy equipment to the race or get there early.  There was no snow where I live so the conditions caught me by surprise.  But I discovered that racing in snow and ice means that there is no way you can go fast enough to really make it hurt (on the inside) becasue you just can't apply that much power.  While I was setting up I heard talk about opening up the wait list at 9:45.  What, you mean this race is sold out?  No way! So we are going to have 100 Cat 4 cross dudes bouncing and sliding around for 40 mintes on what is almost certainly the shortest and narrowest course of the year?  Cool! 

I lined up around the middle of the pack (100 riders divided by 5 per row= 20 rows) and waited for the whistle.  We took off at a reasonable pace with most everyone choosing one of two packed down tire tracks .  I realized a few seconds later than I should have that I could easily go faster down the middle and started passing people and moving up a few spots before the first turn.  It's a good thing I did because there were very few passing oportunities on other parts of the course.  Unless someone fell down, your chances of getting past them were slim.  But lots did fall down.  After what seemed like a long time, the lap cards read 5 to go.  What?  I was about ready for the bell.  Then the next time around the double barriers where the crowd was gathered, I heard Motorhead on the PA and got enough extra kick to put the lap count out of my head and dig a little deeper for a while.  Unfortunately, digging a little deeper in slick snow means falling down more often. 

Over the course of the race I think I wiped out on ice about 6 times.  Most of the time I got up quick and laughed it off but the last ime, near the big tree, it took some of the life out of me and a few guys got around before I was back up to speed.  That was on the last lap as I was trying to catch a few guys that were tantalizingly catchable until I crashed.  I ended up 45th so I made my goal of being in the top half with a few places to spare.  The guy on the huge mountain bike (a Surly Pugsley) won it but I never even saw him. 

The Cat 3 race was next.  I had done a poor job explaining the open mic heckling concept to the crowd before the Cat 4 race becasue I was in a hurry to get to the line.  As a result, nobody had picked up the mic and heckled us.  So, I made sure during the Cat 3 race that the concept was understood:  There would be no real announcing this day, just an 800 watt free for all.  Tom got into it and got some help from Steve H. who it turns out has some real announcing experience from the collegiate racing scene.  The kids got potential. 

I have no idea who it was that was on the mic during the single speed race but he was a cycling Henny Youngman.  Great lines and a great voice to match.  I used the Chabot method to turn my old Faggin cross bike into a single speed Friday night (but didn't test ride it) so I was ready to do the double for the first time in my cross career (beleive me, 44 years old is no time to start doing the double).  I had been shifting frequently in the cat 4 race so I knew this wasn't going to be easy but at least the course is flat.  I managed ok but I was beat by the end.  The weird thing is that I didn't fall down at all in this race after falling over about 6 times in the Cat 4 race.  It could have been that the course was worn in by then.  It could have been the different bike.  Also, I did the single speed on clinchers with about 45 psi as opposed to the Cat 4 where I was on tubulars with about 34 psi.  Could clinchers with pressure be better in slippery snow? I beat the hipster in the plaid shirt and msutache but I lost to Leah from Indy Fab.  So it goes.  At least I took a beer feed for the first time ever.  Andy says it was Harpoon but it tasted like Miller and that's what he had been drinking.  It didn't settle too well so that was the only time I tried that.  I looked for a real Harpoon after the race but, the horror, it was all gone! 

After the single speed event, the racing became a blur of hideous red and white striped kits (I'm looking at you JD), beer/cupcake feeds, pumpkin pie, and bouncing aimlessly from one conversation to another. 

Then just like that, the sun set on the 2009 season and it was time to pack up.

I should point out that Tim Johnson missed the Ice Weasel's race once again but he made it worthwhile by collecting his third Elite Men's stars and stripes jersey in Bend Oregon today.  Paul Curley, Johnny Bold, Kevin Hines, and Julie Lockhart also missed the Ice Weasel's but they'll all be in stars and stripes next season also so they probably mad the right choice too.  Thanks to Cyclingdirt.com for the live video coverage of the races, it was incredible.  I can't beleive that a couple of guys were able to put together a live internet video feed from Oregon and beam it around the world for us to watch for free.  They don't even have adverts on their site.  Next time I might take some dramamine first, but still, what a great job they did bringing us the races.  Versus could learn a fews things from them.

Between announcing, racing, and spectating, I have had only one complete weekend away from bike races since mid August. I am getting tired of getting up earlier on the weekends than I do during the week.  I am ready for a break but if there was a race next weekend, I'd still want to do it.  That's probsably the right feeling to have at the end of the season. 

If something comes along that is blog-worthy, maybe I'll fire up the laptop but it might be a while.  See you next year.

Oh No Noho!

For those of you not so wise in the ways of Western Mass, Noho is local shorthand for Northampton, the self-proclaimed Paradise of America.  It's also the cultural capital of Western Massachusetts.  I was lucky enough to spend five great years during college just down the road in Amherst and my firends and I spent much of our leisure time in Northampton.  Some of the store fronts and night clubs have changed but it's still the same great town and going back there, whatever the excuse, is always fun.  For the first time in many years my excuse was bike racing instead of conferences for work, the UMass Marching Band, or random drunken excursions. 

The seeds of the Northampton race took root when Adam Myerson put on the first cyclocross race at UMass-Amherst in the early 90s (give or take a couple of years).  At the time, UMass had a very successful road racing club that produced lots of great talent.  I can't count myself among them for at least two reasons, one being that I never rode for the team, the other reason should be obvious to anyone that has seen me race, no talent.  Adam, the Swinand brothers, Peter Vollers, Stephanie Roussos, and many others formed the core of a great collegiate cycling scene.

When Adam put on that first cyclo-cross race in the grass fields behind the Orchard Hill and Northeast dormitories at UMass, I was about three years into competitive cycling and just beginning to try 'cross.  I showed up on a Bianchi hybrid that was lighter than a mountain bike but still wasn't quite a cross bike.  But in the early 90's there weren't many cross bikes around.  As usual, Adam was way ahead of his time.  A couple of weeks ago I rode those same fields again while at UMass for a conference.  There is a new parking lot covering a small part of the area, but most of the old course, as well as I can remember it now almost 20 years later, is still there. 

As many UMass students do, Adam transplanted himself from Amherst to Noho and at some point he took the race with him.  While in Noho, Adam started his coaching business, Cycle-Smart, and he became the title sponsor as well as the promoter of the race.  The Cycle-Smart International now has the distinction of being the oldest UCI sanctioned cyclocross race in the country.  When Adam Myerson does something, he does it right!

My love for Western Mass has rubbed off on my sweetie so she and our big dog joined me on my quest for Cat 4 cyclocross glory.  She is also a big proponent of wind energy so a chance to check out the new wind turbines on Jiminy Peak and Brodie Mountain helped seal the deal.  We were packed up and on the road Friday afternoon and got to the "Pick Up Party" at the Cycle-Smart Offices in time for a beer and some socializing.  I was hoping to check out the Spooky Bikes shop downstairs but didn't have a chance.  I saw an old friend from Needham High School there.  I ran across his website first and eventually figured out that I know this guy.  I had no idea that he had become a bike racer and, justifiably, he had no idea that I had either.  Hey Chip! 

The Pick Up Party was a scene and thee place to be, but we had plans to grab some dinner in town so we finished a quick beer (mmm, Sam Smiths porter) and headed for the Sierra Grill.  D'oh, 45 minute wait!  Back up plan:  The Dirty Truth.  Double D'oh, no seats and a line!  We needed food and alcohol quick!  So we walked Main Street looking for good food quick, but not fast food.  I can't remember the name of the place we ended up at, but we found a nice little Italian pasta place a couple of blocks west on Main St and had a great meal. 

I desparately wanted to hit the Dirty Truth for a beer after dinner, but Sweetie's better judgement prevailed (as it usually does) so we went strait to the hotel to rest up for a big Saturday.  If you haven't been to the DT, I suggest you go.  If you have any appreciation at all for fine beers and food, this is the place to go.  They have something like 30 beers on tap and several times more than that bottles.  A cruise through the beer menu can take all night.  They specialize in Belgian and craft brews.  Sorry, no PBRs there for you hipster messenger types.  If you are the indecisive type just get one of everything until you can't stand any more. 

Oh yeah, there was a bike race Saturday:  My goal for the Cat 4 race (other than making it there on time for the 8:30 start) was to finish in the top half.  With a full field of 125 and starting on the 8th row, it wasn't going to be easy.  The whistle blew and 250 pedals, 250 wheels and 250 flaring nostrils surged forward.  Make that 248 pedals.  My nostrils did their job, but I blew it trying to clip in.  I lost several places before I had even turned a complete revolution.  I cursed each stroke as I continued to try to spin and connect with the pedals.  I hope no little kids were nearby.  At least I wasn't next to the fences.  I had looked at the narrow chute before the start and decided I would rather tangle with other riders than the steel fencing.  As it turned out, being a little further back was a good thing when we reached the wooden ramp to enter the grass.  For some reason there was a big pile up there and being a little further back allowed me to pick a line around it with minimal delay.  It would have been better to be in front of it like most of the race, but it was a small victory to get around it unscathed.

From there, it was elbows out for a while as I tried to make up places and get into the top half of the race.  I might be competely wrong about this, but I might have better technical skills than the other riders that are at my fitness level.  I chose some great lines through the corners and when I got gapped by stronger riders, I could usually make it back up by coasting into the next corner a little hotter and letting it fly.  Equipment choices might have a little to do with this - tubulars at 38 psi allow you to corner faster than clinchers, no doubt about it.  I would like to run them even lower, but at 205 pounds and with lots of roots on the course, that was as low as I dared go. I'd rather bounce a little extra than run half a lap to the pit with a flat.

You might expect that racing with 124 friends would be a nightmare and the start kind of was.  But, on the bright side, it means you are likely to have some company no matter how well or how badly you are doing.  This race was the most fun I've had so far because there was always someone to race with.  I passed a bunch, I got passed by a bunch.  Sometimes in the tricky stuff, sometimes in the power sections.  It felt like a race, not a time trial, all the way through.  In the end I finished up 57th so I made my goal of top half.  It's not an earth shattering result, but it's not bad for someone who spends more time announcing races than racing them.  I think I even lapped one or two guys.  That's definitely a first.

After the race it was time to get out of selfish bike racer mode and do what Sweetie wanted to do for a while.  So we went to the farmers market in downtown Noho and stocked up on fresh veggies.  When we were done with that it was almost lunch time so we did what any Belgian cyclocross fan would do, we got beer and frites at the Dirty Truth.  I've been to Belgium (too breifly, but I was there) and Sweetie used to live there so we know our frites.  Let me tell you, the Dirty Truth has the only real frites you are going to find in Massachusetts.  I would say they have the best in all New England, but Duck Fat in Portland (the real Portland, not OR) is good too.  So, at 11:15 AM we had the place to ourselves and we were having a lunch of Belgian beers and frites after finishing my best cross race so far.  Heaven!

We returned to Look Park in time to see the Elite mens and womens races.  I got some pictures but other real media outlets have covered those races better than I can.  Follow this link to Adam Myerson's site where he has a comprehensive list of all the race coverage from the "real media".

The Elite Women on the line.  Mary McConneloug (far left) would win both days.

Elliot takes the hole shot.

Early action: Laura Van Gilder's leg, Sarah Bresnick-Zocchi , and Andrea Smith

Myerson, Timmerman, Driscoll and Powers

Melee in the sand pit

The melee continues

Race Promoter Adam Myerson

The U23 battle taking shape between Luke Keough and Jerome Townsend

J-Pow with Richard Fries after winning

"Wow, what the hell is this thing?"  Driscoll and Timmerman don't know either, but they want it.

Driscoll got his on Sunday.

Sunday podium with Driscoll first, Weighall second and St. John third (right).

More important, after the races, I found out from Adam that the Dirty Truth would be the center of the cyclocross universe later in the evening.  Twice in one day?  Yeah, I can handle that.  I arrived, while Sweetie slept at the hotel, in time to wish Richard Fries a happy birthday as did many others.  I got a chance to talk to a lot of 'cross people that I normally only get to talk about while they are announcing.  The most unusual (in a good way) was Kirt Fitzpatrick, the Sexual Camel. 

The legend of Kirt Fitzpatrick is growing even faster than I can type this and may someday be a blog post in itself if not a made for TV movie.  From what I remember of our conversation over the din of a very busy bar, he told me that his team is named after a strip club in Dubai UAE.  However, I also heard at least two other people ask him the same question about the team name and he gave them both completely different explanations.  I am not naming names, but the Sexual Camel's dry spell may have ended after he left the DT because he didn't leave alone.  I also got a chance to talk to Pete Smith of the embrocation cycling team.  I complemented him on the fine picture of him in the Herald in advance of the Mayor's Cup race in Boston.  He went on to tell me how he was surprised to hear his name during call ups before that race but unfortunately he was too sick to ride and was just there to support team mates.  He didn't realize that I was the announcer that did the call ups.  It must have been frustrating as hell to get a call up at the biggest criterium his home town had seen in decades and not be able to take the line.  He should have walked up to the line in street clothes, that would have been funny.

Day two at Noho was pretty much the same race as day one except backwards.  That meant that the steep run up after the rail road tracks was now a steep drop off into the rail road tracks.  I nearly lost it on the landing after taking way too much air and landing front wheel first.  But I held it together and recovered.  I finished a few places lower than day one but still pretty good for me. 

My congratualtions to technical director JD, who Solobreak correctly notes was everywhere busting his hump (camel reference?) all day long both days.  Thanks JD for a great course.

A little later in the day, while Sweetie, me, and our dog were looking at Western Mass's first wind turbines, the UCI Official at the race, Harry Lam, found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and got hit by riders sprinting for a finish in the 35 plus race.  If you were there, you either heard it or heard about it.  If you weren't, suffice it to say, he was very seriously injured but is now released from the hospital and on the long road to recovery.  There is a fund raiser set up on Bikereg where you can donate to support Harry and his family while he recoveres.  As I understand it, Harry's family (wife and two or three kids) could really use the help since, other than officiating, he was out of work at the time of the accident. Hopefully he still had health insurance, but I don't know about that.  You can also help out this weekend at Lowell.  Check out Chip's website for details.

Cyclocross Smorgasbord

So many races, so little time.  It's been a while since my last confession (mostly because I am not Catholic), but here we go with an update for the past four weeks or so.  Sorry for the lack of pictures but between rain and announcing duties, I haven't even taken the camera out of the truck in a while.

Brockton and Wrentham, October 17-18
October had five weekends for racing and it seemed like it rained one day or the other every one of those weekends except the last.  Saturday in Brockton, Travis Cycles once again hosted their City of Champions Cyclocross.  A year ago, they asked Mark McCormack to redesign their course around the lake and he found some interesting features.  This year they used pretty much exactly the same course and it was still a bit of jungle cross and certainly not UCI approved, but it had a nice mix of surfaces and conditions.  It was a nice change after three strait weeks of Verge UCI  approved courses at Vermont, Gloucester, and Providence.

Attendance was a bit light with a total of about 70 riders taking the line in four different races.  This might have been the result of  the scheduling gods putting four races on the schedule this day or maybe lots of folks just wanted a weekend off after three strait weekends of Verge series racing.  The Category 4 race was the largest of the day with a field of 44 riders (I was bib number 44 and I think I was the last to register).  The hole shot was shorter this year than last with only 100 yards of pavement before hitting the grass and a short uphill.  That meant traffic and lots of it when we reached the uphill.   I somehow got a decent start and made it to the top of the run up in decent position.  But I also somehow managed to drop my chain which I didn't notice until after I remounted the bike which, of course, led to lost time and many lost places.  More time was lost when I had to get off the bike to put the chain back on the big ring.  Suddenly I was next to last place in the race and had to chase.  This seemed to be good motivation because I passed almost half the race to finish 23rd.  I never even saw them, but the results say that Erik Petterson won with last year's winner, Jacob Morrison, right behind.

I didn't see the women's race, but I heard there were only two competitors so it wasn't much of a race. 

The masters-45 race was a friendly battle between Sam Morse and Kevin Hines, teammates on the Corner Cycle team. They rode away from the field and came on to the paved finishing stretch together on the final lap.  They wound up the sprint but Sam pulled out of his left pedal, leaving Kevin to take the win by a length.

Sam and Kevin lined up again for the Masters-35 race but they got some company when course designer Mark McCormack signed in.  Mark was the only rider I saw hopping the barriers on the uphill near the start.  This bought him a few seconds each lap while the others dismounted and then had to chase back on to stay with him.  Only Kevin managed to stay with him and they sprinted out the finish with Markie taking a narrow victory.

Last year the Wrentham race was a lot of fun despite being quite cold.  This year wasn't quite as cold (at least the ground didn't start off frozen this time) but it didn't look like much fun at all.  I was heading to Amherst for a conference for work and the race was almost directly on my way there.  Still, I wisely decided not to race this one myself and just watched the elite race on my way to the conference.  I watched for all of twenty minutes in 38 degree pouring rain before DNF'ing as a spectator.  But that was longer than a few of the racers lasted.  This was the kind of day when most racers "warmed up" in their car and waited until the last possible minute to get on their bike.  It also led to some interesting equipment choices including Colin "Results Boy" Reuter selecting rubber dish washing cloves to keep his results-entering fingers warm and dry.  If the gloves worked, whatever else he had on apparently didn't because he passed me on his bike as we were both heading to our cars with most of the race still to go.  And he wasn't the first or last to retire from the race.  Only 17 riders finished and there are 38 in the results including all of the DNFs.  These were the worst conditions I have seen at a race and apparently it got worse after I left.  If you too had the good sense to skip this race this year, you may remember watching the Patriots demolish the Titans in 4 inches of snow at Foxboro.  Well, Wrentham is just a bunny hop, chain skip, and bike throw  down Route 1 from Foxboro and the snow fell there as well before the race was over.  Sorry I missed that part (not). 

Downeast Cyclocross, New Gloucester Maine, October 24-25
The pattern of one rainy day/one nice day continued when the Verge series resumed.  The Maine Cycling Club did a great job putting on this race, the first time at the UCI level.  Near constant rain and hundreds of pairs of bike tires turned the fields and trails of Pineland Farm in New Gloucester into the proverbial "mud pit" on Saturday.  I got to do the anouncing for this one as Richard Fries, the usual announcer for the Verge series races, was out of town at the USGP in Louisville.  As wet as it was, working all day in the rain at this race was no where near as uncomfortable as the twenty minutes I spent at Wrentham the previous weekend.

Mo Bruno-Roy had a tangle at the start line with Amanda Carey so they lost the whole shot and had to chase to get back into contention.  Natasha Elliot (Garneau) took the early lead by several seconds while Bruno-Roy and Carey made their way through the field.  They managed to pass every one but Elliot, who remianed off the front for several laps.  But they couldn't drop Andrea Smith (Minuteman RC) and Mary McConnelog (Kenda/Seven).  The four women formed a chase group and closed the gap to Elliot.  As Bruno-Roy put the pressure on, the group fell apart and only Carey could stay with her.  As she did in (old) Gloucester weeks ago, Carey proved that she is very good in the mud, especially for a first year cross racer.  When Brnuno-Roy and Carey caught Elliot, they completed their run from the back to the front of the race and would finish one-two on the podium with Elliot third.  Elliot would later say that she regretted not pushing a little harder while she was in the lead to establish an insurmountable gap.  But under the conditions, she did well to hang on to third.  All three women fought hard until the end and it wasn't decided until the final hair pin on the grass before a short paved sprint to the line.  Usually, a cyclocross race is decided long before the final meters, but this one was a battle right up until the end when Bruno-Roy just had a little bit more left in her than the others.

As the rain continued and the temperatures dropped a bit, Dan Timmerman (Sachs) and Luke Keough (Champion Systems) started the men's race on the front row in the leader's jerseys of the elite men and the under 23 men respectively.  They would take the hole shot and hit the muddy field first.  With the rain falling constantly, the grass field was a mess with chocolate milk mud but it was watery enough that it didn't stick to the bikes too badly and most of the course remained ridable despite deep tracks.  Timmerman was clearly the class of the field and had seemingly little trouble handling the mud and his competitors.  Keough hung tough to take second while Josh Dillon (Sachs) closed several places in the last two laps to earn himself a spot on the podium by the end of the race.  But the weather remained bad and many of the riders were near hypothermic so we cancelled the podium events.  There weren't any spectators left at that point anyway, even Downeast Mainers know when to call it a day and admit that the weather sometimes wins.

As bad as Day 1's weather was for the racers, Day 2 started with blue skies from the sunrise and stayed that way.  If you didn't have to race, Day 2 made up for all the rain Day 1.  Unfortunately for the riders, Maine cow pasture mud does not dry out as fast as the sky and we were left with atrocious mud that would go from chocalate milk, to peanut butter, to concrete throughout the day.  Riding the same course but in the opposite direction from Saturday, the lower category men and women were kind enough to take quite a bit of the mud with them throughout the morning, but there was still plenty left for the elite racers.  The officials noticed during the early races that even the seemingly mild hils of the cow pasture had become unridable in the thick goop so they re-routed the course slightly to take advantage of grass that had previously been outside the barrier tape.  This slight realignment made all the difference and the course was again ready for a cyclo-cross race.

The result of the women's race was about the same as Day 1 with Mo Bruno-Roy taking another win and proving that she is a mudder.  This one came with a lot less drama and a more comfortable margin as she held off Mary McConneloug and Natasha Elliot.

Dan Timmerman worked the pits for his team manager/sponser, Richard Sachs, during the masters race.  One wise guy asked if that was in his contract with the team but Dan was too busy rushing off to the bike wash with Richard's bike to think of a snappy comeback.  Apparently, it was a good warm up for him because he had another fine day in the saddle when his turn came a couple of hours later.  If you were wondering, Richard did return the favor for Dan during the elite race.  The pit crews were very busy thoughout the day as almost every rider in contention in the race made several bike changes, sometimes within a half lap.  And the bikes were coming into the pits absoutely clogged up with mud.  Fortunately, by the time the elite races started, a hose connection closer to the pit was found cutting the commute to the bike wash down to about one quarter of what it was on Day 1.  

Timmerman and Keough got off to good starts again and stayed near the front until the race went out of site in the woods on the north side of the course.  Kirt Fitzpatrick (Sexual Camel) came out of the woods in first place with a wide gap on the rest. Something happened back there while they were out of site, and Fitzpatrick took full advantage of it.  He was flying coming into the cow pasture and taking some big risks in the rutted mud.  With some of the biggest names in the sport away at the USGP in Loiusville for the weekend, the Downeast races were a golden opportunity for some of the lesser known riders to shine, but no one would have predicted the man from the Sexual Camel racing team would lead for the first two and a half laps before finally getting caught by the Verge series leader, Dan Timmerman.  Fortunately, Fitzpatrick had a video comera on the front of one of his bikes and caught some nice footage of the race (thanks to Colin for the tip, I never would have found it on my own). 

Apparently Fitzpatrick, the Sexual Camel, has been drinking heartily from the Oasis of Awesomeness and stored it up in his legs for this race.  Fitzpatrick did eventually get passed by five other riders but held on for 6th.  Timmerman and Justine Lindine (Joe's Garage/IF) were the first to pass him about half way through the race and went on to sprint the final 300 meters down the muddy dirt road in a battle for first place.  Timmerman led it out with Lindine glued to his wheel.  Surprisingly, Timmerman took the time to adjust his glasses with his right hand as they reached top speed but that wasn't enough to give Lindine a chance to get around and Timmeman took another win.  The U23 battle between Gavin Mannion (Hot Tubes) and Luke Keough was won this time by Mannion who also rounded out the podium for the elite race.  Josh Dillon put another come from behind trick and took 5th.  Derrick St. John (Garneau) had been in contention for a podium spot but mangled his rear deraileur somewhere out of site in the woods on the last lap.  He had to run with his bike on his shoulder for several minutes to get to the pit with a quarter lap to go.  On a new bike, he held on for 8th.  It would have been easy to pack it in and quit, but 8th place prize money in a UCI race is still enough to replace the deraileur and pay for some gas money back to Ontario Canada.

Canton Cup, October 31
This one I raced, sort of.  Bike racers often have a problem telling the difference between excuses for failure and reasons for failure and I am no exception.  This time I think I have a good reason, and certainly a novel one that you haven't heard before: I sucked at Canton (even by my modest standards) because the day before the race I climbed to the top of the new wind turbine at work and my legs were beat.  You would be surprised at the weird muscles that get sore after climbing up, and then down, a 300-foot tall ladder.  When I got on my bike Saturday, I realized just how bad it was.  But I'd do it again, the view of Cape Cod and Buzzard's Bay from up there was worth it.  My warm up wasn't great either and that didn't help (OK, I am veering off into excuses now, I know).  Anyway, I didn't lose, I didn't get hurt, and I didn't damage my bike so it wasn't all bad.  And I got in a good workout before Northampton.  That reminds me, I need to prereg for that tonight so I don't have to start in the back row again.  Se ya, got to go.......

Providence Cyclocross Festival, Day 1 and 2, October 10 and 11

The big news on Saturday was that Tim Johnson did it again.  In addition to winning, he again took out another rider for the second straight race.  But this time it wasn't a former world's silver medalist (i.e. Jon Page),  it was a 6 year old kid riding his BMX bike around the infield after the race. 

I barely saw it happen out of the corner of my eye - Tim was starting to ride down hill from the finish area past the bike expo and toward the podium after winning the race.  The young guy, whose name was Ryder, was riding right into Tim's path and Tim had little choice but to t-bone Ryder, knocking him off the bike.  I doubt Tim even saw the kid until it was too late. 

Too many kids are conditioned to think that they should cry when they fall down even if they aren't hurt.  To his credit, Ryder got up like a true cyclocrosser and didn't shed a single tear.  I just missed having the camera out, and apparently Cyclingdirt.com was nowhere near the scene this time, but I did get a shot of Ryder soon after he got up:

Always wear your helmet, kids.  You never know when TJ might be near.

Tim really is a nice guy.  He went out of his way to make sure that Ryder was ok and chatted for a couple minutes with Ryder and his parents.  Once the kid was back on his bike and everything was alright, Tim said "Come on kid, you and me are going to the podium."  He later gave Ryder his first place medal.

TJ and Ryder heading for the podium

TJ doing the post-race interview

That was actually the end of the day.  A lot happened leading up to it.  I got to Providence in time for the Elite Women's and Men's races but missed everything before that, including the race that I had preregistered for.  When I went to bed Friday evening, I was planning on racing Saturday morning despite a sore throat and stuffy nose.  But it got much worse overnight and at about 2 AM I woke up and turned the alarm off so I could try to sleep it off.  $30 down the drain, but I would have been completely miserable if I had tried to race.  I slept around the clock and felt good enough to spectate Saturday afternoon.

Readers of this blog (Dave Foley, my mom, my parole officer) might recall that I ruined my camera in the rain at Gloucester last week.  That's actually a good thing, I hated that camera.  It missed more shots than it got and it would kill a pair of AAs every 20 minutes.  I got a new Fujifilm S1500 on Friday and with no practice at all, started taking much better photos than I ever have before.  Wait until I learn how to use this thing!  It was kind of an impulsive purchase because it was the only real camera the store had, the rest of them looked even cheaper than the one I had ruined.  But it got the Paul Weiss seal of approval Saturday so it must be alright.  Hey Paul, what does appurture mean?  I have a lot to learn, but here are some of the photos I took of the women's race:

Those yellow Mavic shoes are getting popular.

Mo Bruno (blue tape) didn't look comfortable in the race or on the line.

Amy Dombroski had a very strong ride in 3rd place.

Rebecca Wellons heading to the finish

The women's podium with Richard Fries (l to r): Katerina Nash (1st),

Amy Dombroski (3rd) and Mary McConneloug (2nd)

Ms. Nash had the race in the bag early on and not much seemed to change after the first lap.  Mary McConneloug was sort of a surprise finishing second in her first cross race of the year.  Amy Dombroski is riding very strong and finished third.  The podium was exactly the same on Day 2.  The Verge points series leader heading into the weekend, Natasha Elliot wasn't present this weekend, probably so she could attend the Canadian National cross championships, so the leaders jersey was in jeopordy.  Mo Bruno, who has scored points in all six races so far took the lead by 16 points.  Rebecca Wellons has stayed close by being competitive in every race and is currently third in the series.

In the men's race, Dan Timmerman needed to finish well against some strong competion to retain his series lead and he managed to do that with an eighth place finish Saturday and 5th on Sunday.  He finished the weekend tied with Tim Johnson for the series lead.

Series leader Dan Timmerman at the start line.

My new camera has a "panorama" feature that stitches together 3 pictures. 

Well, sort of.  It needs work.

Adam Myerson and Tim Johnson at the start line.

Sexual Camel?  Must be a mountain bike thing.

Chris Jones, a roadie (not Rhodey) thing.

Frattini, Weighall, and Timmerman

A beer thief  dabs in the woods.

Does Adam squeeze the brake levers with fingers

or push them with the palms of his hands?

Tim Johnson is telling me to "go left, go left".  After he went by I understood why.  He planned to stretch the tape out on this corner while he carried maximum speed.  Pro tip: The course tape is fair game.  If it doesn't break, you are still on the course.

Results Boy takes the same line just a moment later. 

Exactly how long is a "moment" anyway?

Here is Butch Balzano from SRAM digging through the car looking for some chain rings for Adam Myerson after the race.  Van Dessel gave Adam cranks and chain rings with 53 tooth outer rings.  Adam was flattered, but decided to build his 2009 cross rigs with something a bit smaller.  Butch is the man.

Sunday mornng I awoke feeling much better and decided to do the day of registration for the Cat 4 masters race.  Being a day of registrant, I got to start DFL in the last row.  I was number 769 and two guys registered after me bringing the total to 71 in the race (counting any preregistered riders who might have been sick and stayed in bed).  I was still kind of clogged up from the cold, but I went ok.  I passed a bunch on the paved start and kept the pressure on when we reached the grass.  The first turns were a pinball game but I managed to get a couple of good bounces and didn't have to get off the bike where others did.  I must have gotten near the top 25 on the first lap, but then I started to slide.  I lost about 4 or 5 places per lap for the rest of the race and didn't stop sliding until the last half lap.  37th out of 71 is practically top half if you assume that all everyone was there and that DNFs are last (there are only 58 or so i nthe results).  So, I almost made my goal of being in the top half and I am getting better each race.  Considering my starting position, I'll call it a pass.  I wonder what I could have done if I was healthy Saturday and got my prereg starting spot.  I think I would have been in the third row, maybe fourth.

My coach, Negacoach, was heckling me during the race and yelled something completely useless about riding too slow to deserve to have a beard.  WTF?  Try telling me something useful like "get the water bottle out of your back pocket, it's only a half hour long race!"  That might have been helpful since I had forgotten to ditch it at the line and rode the entire race looking like a Fred with that bottle back there.  I am surprised I never felt it when the bike was on my shoulder on a run up.  At least I had a nice sip of Hs, twos, and Os handy at the finish.  

So I had the Fred water bottle thing going against me, but I felt totally pro using embrocation for the first time ever, unless Bag Balm counts as embrocation.  We used to use Bag Balm in the spring time, especially if it was raining, because tights or warmers would get soaking wet and heavy.  But you had to have your legs shaved or it made an awful mess.  I haven't shaved them since my Cat 3 days a long time ago, but I found that the Mad Alchemy stuff isn't too bad with hairy legs, it just doesn't look as pro.  Even the mildest heat level was pleasant in the morning chill.  The only down side was that it lasted well into the night and felt quite hot under the covers when I didn't really want it to.  I probably could have wiped it off more thoroughly and avoided the bedwarmer effect.

After my race was over it was time to head back to Plymouth for a gig with my band at noon.  I was cutting it close, but made it just in time.  When we started playing, my head just wasn't into it.  I usually remember the lyrics to songs that I sing pretty easily, but something wasn't right in my head all afternoon and I kept forgetting the lyrics to songs that I wrote and covers that I have sung hundreds of times.  It was weird.  And that sweet precious nectar, beer, didn't seem to help.  I probably won't try to race and play music professionally in the same day again.  But despite the mental block, it was a fun afternoon.  Stop by T Bones Road House in Plymouth November 1 at noon if you aren't heading to Vermont for the cross race.

What, no cupcakes?

Normally I write race reports from the detached persepctive of a (not very good) journalist.  Third person omnicient voice if I recall high school English class correctly.  This one's going to be a little different as, instead of actually paying attention and keeping notes, I spent my time cheering, drinking beer, racing, and then drinking beer again while cheering.  Foregive me if this goes astray:

The only thing missing at Gloucester was cupcakes.  It's entirely possible I spent too much time in the beer tent and missed them, but I didn't see a cupcake in all of Stage Fort Park.  But that's my only complaint. 

The conditions were perfect for 'cross with plenty of rain Saturday to create that euro mud vibe we mostly only see in videos, and then a mostly sunny day Sunday.  This created almost entirely different conditions from Saturday to Sunday, at least for the elite races.  When I was out there Sunday morning it was still a mudfest but at least the moisture was only coming from below, not from the clouds.  The mud that stuck to four or five hundred bikes throughout the morning and early afternoon Sunday was enough to leave a relatively dry course for the two elite races.  Here is the dreaded run up in all its muddy glory Saturday afternoon:

I couldn't race Saturday do to other commitments, but I arrived in G'ster in time to watch the last three races of the day (B's, Elite Women, and Elite Men).  During the B race, I ran into Solobreak Foley as he was coming out of the porta-john.  He had set me up me with some frosty beverage last year at the Ice Weasel's race so I owed him a beer or two.  As he already had a bit of a head start on me, it didn't take much convincing for him to join me in the Great Brewers beer tent.  They had EIGHT different beers on tap from eight different craft brewers, most of them local to New England.  My favorite was the Smuttynose Belgian-style single, followed closely by the Cape Ann pumpkin stout.

During the elite race, Solobreak and I were hanging near the fence at the back of the beer area.  A few laps into it, Jonathan Page had a commanding lead.  He thundered past us on one of the drier stretches of the course followed by Ryan Kelly.  Ryan saw my 1/2 full beer hanging over the fence and yelled "beer me!".  Solobreak credits Joachim Parbo for this, but it was Ryan (both were in red and white and covered in mud so it's an understandable mistake after a few beers).  Ryan was going considerably slower than Page since he had just been lapped by Page so he had no trouble grabbing onto the beer cup and he downed it before he was three pedal strokes away.  He then apparently abandonned the race soon after because we didn't see him again.  Ryan created road-results.com (along with Colin) which helps me immensely with race announcing, so I wouldn't mind buying him a whole beer of his own sometime. 

If you haven't read a real race report by professional journalists yet, Page won the race by a country mile with moustache-less Jamey Driscoll behind in second, followed by Chris Jones.  In what seemed like a very short women's race, Natasha Elliot won convincingly while a new women on the scene, Amanda Carey, took second.  Lynne Bessette is out of retirement and took third place. Here are a couple of shots from the Women's race.  My cheap camera took a beating in the rain.  It didn't take long for the picture quality to deteriorate.  I think my camera is ruined, but that's a good thing since I have always hated that camera.  Good excuse to get a new one.

Series leader and race winner, Natasha Elliot.

Rebecca Wellons

Amanda Carey

Saturday's typical conditions, mudfest.

Sunday morning at 9:00 I took the line with the rest of the masters Cat 4 field.  Actually, I took the 8th line out of 11 so I figure I started the race in a bout 85th place.  I need to start pre-registering earlier for these things.  I had a pretty good start and passed a bunch of people in the twisty stuff after the pavement.  But then I biffed it on the section behind the building which I think was the slippiest part of the course.  My chain dropped off too, just to make sure I lost all the places I had been making up in the turns.  We did four laps through this section and I only cleaned it once.     

I normally have a pretty good sense of direction but this Gloucester course completely screwed with my head.  No matter where on the course I was, I could never remember what feature was coming up next.  The worst for this was the multple coils around the pits.  It probably didn't help that I didn't pre-ride the course. I could still go through Sucker Brook in my mind now 8 days later and remember every feature in order, but I couldn't follow that Gloucester course now without the course tape and it's only one day later.  Is it just me? 

Entering the final lap I was going back and forth passing and being passed by a couple of other no-hopers.  One guy had traded places with me a couple of times but I had the upper hand going through the start finish line as we got the bell for the last lap.  He came storming past me on the right and picked up a lot of speed as the pavement began to slope downhill.  It was just him and me at that point and I heard a little kid voice say "Go daddy."  I knew that wasn't for me.  My dog's smart but not that smart.  I guess this guy was trying to show off for his family and giving it everything he had.  He must have forgotten that he had to veer right into a bumpy dirt section with an off camber turn to the right.  I don't think he even touched his brakes before he blew the turn big time and fell hard.  I don't want to say he was screaming, but it was like a cross between that and a moan.  A deep manly scream I guess you could say.  He lied there crumpled up tangled in his bike and the white course tape he had taken out.  I nearly added to his woes, but managed to stop barely before running into him.  I waited for a couple of seconds and called for help until I saw a couple of spectators running our way.  Then I figured it was ok to get back to racing.  I found out later he broke some ribs and a wrist and was taken to the hospital.  Bad enough to get hurt, but to do it in front of the whole family must be extra painful.

I had modest goals for this race (as I always do).  I had hoped to finish in the top half of the race.  68th out of 86 finishers isn't top half, but considering all those that started and didn't finish, it's pretty close.  I felt a little better about my result after I checked the bib numbers of all those ahead of me in the results (bikereg and cross results rule!) to see how much the starting positions affected the race.  I found that of 67 people who finished ahead of me, only 12 of them started behind me (based on bib numbers).  I can live with that.  Using the BikesnobNYC pass/fail rating system for race success, I guess I call it a pass, but I hope to go better next week.

I ran into Adam Myerson as he was preparing for the elite men's race and we talked a few minutes about music and UMass before I actually paid attention to what he was doing.  As he sat in his driver's seat he had pulled his skinsuit up backwards over his legs.  I had to ask what he was doing but then at the same time he took out some safety pins (from his pocket, not his skin) and started pinning up his bib numbers on the stretched material.  How pro is that?  A perfectly flat number every time.  Maybe everybody knows to do this, but it was new to me.  It's going to be a while before I where a skinsuit (another 10 pounds at least) but it should work just as well on a jersey.  I can't wait for Providence!

Adam even pins up the pro way.

At this point I had completely lost track of the time, but I knew I was ready for a beer.  As it turns out, I got to the beer tent exactly at high noon and got the first beer of the day!  That's the one race I can win.  After a few minutes, some friends from my club showed up and we had a great time comparing war stories from our races while seated at the table with the best view of the course and the ocean. One of the guys had been doing well in the 55 plus race when he rolled a tubular.  He wasn't the only one.  I don't recall seeing so many rolled tubulars in a race as there were Sunday.  3M Fasttack seems to work for me now that I have figured out (the ouchie way) that I need 4 times more than I would use on a road tire.  I just doomed myself didn't I?

The women's elite race Sunday was another competitive and exciting race.  Natasha Elliot repeated with Laura Van Gilder finishing second on a flat (but not rolled) rear tire.  Mo Bruno-Roy was not far behind in third.  The biggest improvement of the day was probably Rebecca Wellons who went from 10th Saturday to 5th Sunday.

If you haven't seen the footage, the men's race came down to this.  People have been analyzing this like it's the Zapruder film and there seems to be some difference of opinion as to how agregious Tim's move was.  I'll leave it for others to speculate if he was trying to take Page out or not.  I can't really tell from the angle we have how much Tim slowed down when he got in front of Page and I think that is the crux of figuring out his intent.  If he slammed the brakes, it was malicious.  If he was just trying to scrub a little speed getting set up for the sand, I'm ok with that.  Remember, he was nursing a sore shoulder that clearly had been giving him a lot of trouble all weekend, maybe he needed to be a little extra careful going into the sand and braked more than Page expected.  As pointed out by Adam Myerson, Jeremy Powers showed a lot of class by not taking advantage of the situation with a big attack.  Watch the video to the end and you'll see that Page apparently puts a shoulder into Powers as he passes him on the flat section after the sand pit.  But they are getting pretty far away by that point so it's hard to say if it was payback for Johnson's move or just some frustration showing through. 

After the race the hurt feelings couldn't have gone too deep because Page was mostly all smiles signing autographs.  I got this shot of him with my wet camera.  He doesn't look like he is holding a grudge here, does he? 

Jon Page after Sunday's race.

What a great weekend of cyclocross, but I really wanted a cupcake.

P.S. - I'll be doing the announcing at the Maine Verge weekend on the 24-25th of October.  If you have read this blog, stop by and say hi, even if you think it sucks.

TD Bank Mayor's Cup - Boston, Mass September 26th, 2009

The City of Boston, with sponsorship from TD Bank and Boloco restaurants, put on the biggest bicycle race in Boston in over 20 years, maybe the biggest ever.  With $40,000 to be split evenly between the men's and women's Pro/Am fields, this one was sure to draw the best competitors from across the country and the region.  And being the last big race of the season, it was sure to be a fitting send off to the 2009 road racing season.

Race promotor Nicole Freedman, a former Olympian originally from Wellesley, Mass, is the "Bike Czarina" for the City of Boston.  It is her job to make Boston a more "bicyle friendly" place.  That's a tall order in a city of crowded narrow streets originally laid out 300 years ago by cows on their way to pasture.  But she has Mayor Menino's full support as he is a bicycle enthusiast himself, and the TD Bank Mayor's Cup is just one of many efforts she is heading up.  If being the Bike Czarina and race promoter wasn't enough, she also competed in the race against the best women racers in the country.  She might not be training like an Olympian these days with all the work she has to do, but she was strong enough to take second place the previous weekend in Portsmouth, NH.  It is difficult enough to prepare for a race when the race is the only thing on your mind, but to toe the line and go head to head with the country's best while dealing with all of the race-day headaches that come with promoting a race is an almost super human effort.  Still, Nicole held her own while the Colavita and Tibco professional teams set a blistering pace.

The weather was perfect and the venue couldn't be beat.  The 0.7 mile lap around City Hall Plaza saw lots of race fans and lots of curious pedestrians just trying to get from one historic site to the next.  Famed race announcer Dave Towle flew in from from Interbike in Vegas to be at the start/finish line which was at the top side of the plaza and I was honored to trade pulls on the mic with him until the racing started, at which time I went to the backside sprint line near the Union Oyster House to announce for the many spectators in that area.  The original plan had been for Dave and I to trade pulls all day long despite being a quarter mile apart, but the sound system wasn't set up ideally to do that so we ended up doing our own things during the races with me heading back up to the start/finish line to help with the call ups and other announcer duties when possible.  It's a good thing I brought my bike or I would have ended up jogging a couple of miles throughout the day and I don't like to run unless I have a bike on my shoulder.

It sure was fun to work with Dave Towle.  If you have never heard him work a race before, he's kind of like Richard Fries but much much louder.  He used to race, but I doubt he was much of a climber, the guy is built for basketball, not cycling.  Tim Johnson, pro road and cyclo cross star from Beverly, Mass, was present to cheer on his wife, Lynne Besette, and he also grabbed a mic to add some color commentary when he could fit in a word or two with Dave.

The racing?  You want to know what happened, in the race not just who did the announcing?  Well, for those of you with twisted priorities, it went pretty much like this:

Racing started with the 5 heats of 10 kids each sprinting about 150 yards from the last corner to the start/finish line.  The cute factor was through the roof until a slight mishap just after the start line caused some tears in the final heat.  Oh well, that's bike racing.  Everyone was fine and finished the race. 

The women took the line at 3:00 with a mix of national pros and the best of the locals.  Notably missing was Rebecca Wellons who had preregistered but must have made the decision to get an early start on defending her New England cyclo-cross series championship title instead of duking it out on the road with the professional teams.  But we did have a who's who of women's cycling present including Tina Pic and Rachel Heal, both riding in the the final races of their professional careers, both with the Colavita team.  Tina has been at it for about 20 years and has several hundred wins to her name.  But after Boston she plans to become a manager of the Colavita team, as does Rachel.  Also present was Brooke Miller (Tibco).  When Dave and I were postulating ove the mic how Tina's impending retirement might alter the outcome of the race, Brook was nearby and let us know that there would be no retirement gift for Tina today, Tina would have to fight for the win, just like always.

The after call ups, the women took the course for what was planned to be a 60 minute race.  They must have picked up the pace considerably after the officials calculated the number of laps to be completed because the race ended in about 50 minutes.  It is unlikely that anyone out there minded, especially the less experienced local racers who were hanging on while the pros set the pace at the front.  It was a less tactical affair than might have been expected  The professional teams set a quick pace and gobbled up the prime money but no breaks got away and the field stayed together.  Strong local riders like Anna McLoon and Danielle Ruane made their way toward the front on occasion.  With two laps to go, the Colavita women used their superior numbers (5 women in the race) to set the lead out train for Tina Pic to go out in style.  With half a lap to go, the train was down to just Tina and one teammate left in front of her.  At the speed they were going, no one was going to come around them, not even Brooke Miller.  Tina was delivered to the final sprintand pulled away in the finishing stretch where she won over Brooke by a couple of bike lengths to cap off her career.  Jennifer McCrae (Type 1) was third.  The prize list paid 20 deep so there was still plenty left for the locals in the 51 rider field.  The top local rider was Mary Zider (Specialized) in ninth place.

There was a very entertaining mascot race between the mens and womens events.  Wally the Green Monster, Pat Patriot, the Greenpeace Whale and others raced the same finishing stretch that the kids had raced earlier.  Although Wally was apparently the crowd favorite, the Greenpeace whale had the strongest legs (go figure?) and won despite having a considerable portion of his tale caught between the back wheel and frame of his bike.  That must have hurt worse than getting tangled in fishing gear.  U2 once said - " A women needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" (Yeah, I know a whale isn't a fish, but close enough for blogging). The photograph of Dave Towle interviewing the victorious whale is priceless, but not copywrited if anyone cares to use it (see below).

After the mascots finished warming down, it was time for the men's call ups.  It was a group with local flavor.  The three McCormack brothers who are originally from Plymouth, Mass, Jake Keough from Sandwich, Mass, Jon Bruno from Boston, Ted King from NH, Gavin Mannion from Dedham, Mass, and Dan Vallaincourt from Saco, Maine all drop their Rs when speaking.  The only guys from out of town that started on the front row were Kyle Wamsley and Bobby Lea.

When they took off, they immediately wound it up to over 30 mph average speed.  It didn't take more than 3 or 4 laps at that speed for the first casualties to start popping off the back.  Then the prime bell rang for the first of the $500 cash primes.  The field got strung out and the remaining racers from the 120 rider field became a single file train that took a long while to pass from engine to caboose.  Various small attacks went noodling off the front but nothing stuck for long during the first half of the race.  The first rider to stay out off the front for more than a lap was Jeff Buckles (Richmond Pro Cycling).  Hopefully he pocketed a couple of primes on the top side of the course but as I recall, he happened to time his solo break in between primes on the backside line. 

Buckles was re-absorved by the field but right around the halfway point Wamsley (Colavita), Ted King (Cervelo), Toby Marzot (Mountain Khakis), Sean Milne (Team Type 1), Clayton Barrows (CRCA), Bobby Lea (OUCH), and Jeff Buckles went off the front of the field one or two at a time, but quickly consolidated into a lead group of 7.  With all the firepower needed, and the help of teammates blocking in the field, the writing was on the wall and this move was meant to stick.  The Bikereg, Metlife, and Champion Systems teams tried to bring it back, as did Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies) but the well oiled machine stayed out of reach while the blockers in the field didn't allow too many riders to chase before throwing wrenches in the works.  With lap times around 1:30 or less, the break was averaging over 30 mph and maintaining a lead of about 15 seconds until the fire in the field finally fizzled.  They had brought the gap down to about 34 seconds, but it quickly grew again to 45 seconds (half a lap) with a bout 15 minutes left to race. 

It looked briefly like the break of seven could catch the back side of the field if it collectively wanted to.  Apparently not enough of the group of 7 wanted to see that happen, or it was just too late in the race, and the breakaway group maintained their place about a half lap ahead of the field for the remainder of the race.  Kyle Wamsley hit the last half lap as hard as he could and no one from the break stayed on his wheel. He ended up pulling away for the victory by a few bike lengths over Sean Milne and Clayton Barrows (CRCA).  They were followed in by Ted King, Toby Marzot who had the ride of his career so far, Jeff Buckles and Bobby Lea.

As it was getting dark at City Hall Plaza, the podium ceremonies for the women's and men's races were held and champagne was sprayed by all six podium finishers.  The Mayor himself handed out the Mayor's Cup trophies to the winners and the sponsors handed each winner an offical Hub on Wheels winners jersey.

TD Bank is signed on as the title sponsor for two more years and the race is the centerpeice of Nicoles efforts to to make Boston a better place to ride a bike so, it looks like we will all be back next year.  There is talk of the race becoming part of the National Racing Calendar (NRC) series which should bring even more of the best riders to Boston. 

Here are pictures from the event.  They are not quite Graham Watson or Chris Milliman quality, but Rose did a fine job in her second assignment as startfinishbikenews race photog.

The women's call up.

The first few laps

The women's field

Lynne Besette at the front

Wally the Green Monster

Dave Towle interviews the Greenpeace Whale

Men's call up

The Women's field

Yeah, they were going that fast!

Kyle Wamsley pauses for refreshment, but not for long

Wamsley recieves the winner's jersey

Mayor Menino and Tina Pic

Tim Johnson, me (with a face made for radio), Dave Towle, and Brooke Miller

After the race there was a concert on the plaza by the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra and I got to do the on-stage introduction for them.  I am not usually a big fan of classic rock (Queen, Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac), but these guys were incredible.  I am a fan of the Who, and they do them better than the Who did, really.   They take the hardest songs of the era and sing/play them perfectly.  The more dramatic, the better for this group.  Queen was a perfect fit and they played several of their songs, but sadly not the bicycle song (it would have been appropriate).  Too bad I had already put the camera away, the 16 of them are very photogenic.  See them if you can.