The State finally re-paved the main road into Myles Standish State Forest from the Plymouth side. So, this year's race returned to the College Pond loop after a year on the training loop at Charge Pond. Or that is what we thought would happen. As it turned out, 14 inches of rain in the month of March (a record) on top of a rainy 2009 raised the groundwater levels so high that a portion of the College Pond loop was flooded out. Race promoter Bill Sykes had a tough choice to make: move back to Charge Pond again or shorten the College Pond loop to avoid the massive puddle. No one really wanted to race the Charge Pond loop again for the 6th straight week, so he wisely shortened to College Pond loop to avoid the pond/puddle on the south side of the College Pond loop. That left just a 2 mile loop that was pretty much all either climbing or descending with a couple of small rollers in between. Maybe someday the State will fix the dam at East Head Bog near the forest headquarters and the race will be able to return to the classic 7 mile loop. I'll bet most people that raced MSRR this weekend weren't even around for that version of the course, it's been more than 10 years since the dam has been closed.
Before we go any further here, I should point out that the staging and the finish were the only parts of the races that I could se from my vantage point as the announcer. As a result, the race summaries below are a combination of what I could peice together from the USAC officials' race radio transmissions (thanks Kelly) and reports from riders after the race. Sorry if I don't have it all exactly right.
Cub Juniors – The cub juniors certainly don't remember the full length version of the course and that's ok because their race was just two miles (or one lap) long. In an effort to explain the course to them, I figured I would put it in kid terms. I told them the course is like a lollypop, you go out the stem, take one lap around the lollypop, and then come back down the stem to finish. I got blank looks, but it made sense to me so I kept using the analogy all the way though to the Masters and Pro races at the end of the day.
Five kids lined up for the once around the lollypop race. When they came back down the stem to the finish, Ian Keough took the solo victory by about a minute. As Joe Parkin (author of a Dog in a Hat) would say, there was no one else in the picture. Three of Ian's older brothers were at the Tour of the Battenkill and the oldest, Jake, was racing in California. I couldn't tell which brother he was talking to, but he got some last minute coaching via cellphone while on the start line. It seemed to help.
Juniors 15-18 – This race was a rematch of Vollers vs. McCormack through the proxies of their respective sons. Frank McCormack had 15 year old twins Brendan and Cameron while Peter Vollers had Peter Vollers Junior (PVJ in Belgian shorthand). The fathers raced together as professionals on the IME team that Bill Sykes put together years ago. PVJ also had lots of teammates from the Killington Mountain School while Cameron and Brendan were the sole representatives of Hot Tubes Cycling. They did 7 laps of the course and within the first half of the race the McCormack twins took off the front. At the finish, Cameron narrowly took the sprint from his brother. Nate Etchells (Mystic Velo) finished third with PVJ right behind.
Cat5 – The Cat 5s were split into two fields with 35 years being the dividing line and they set off a couple of minutes apart. Both fields had almost 30 riders which is about all you would want on the narrow twisting roads at MSRR. The 35plus Cat 5 group came in to the finish line with a big bunch sprint and as they came into view over the last rolling hill one of the riders suddenly moved to the right taking out the 3rd or 4th rider in linfrom the front off the course and causing others to take evasive action. Fortunately the rider that was taken down did most of his tumbling in the pine needles on the side of the road and not on the asphalt. Still, he was banged up enough to go to the hospital in the ambulance . The diagnosis included broken ribs and some serious road rash. He returned to pick up his truck and bike from the parking area just moments before it was about to be locked in by the State. It would still be there now if he had been tewn minutes longer. His wife who had picked him up at the hospital didn't seem too happy, but he said he would be back on the bike soon. In the race, Robert Hoenick (Bikeworks) was leading out the sprint when the crash happened and was therefore ahead of the crash. He held on from 300 yards out without even having to stand up to take the win.
The Cat5 35plus field came to the line in a big bunch also but a little more strung out. They passed the crash victim from the previous race who was fortunate to be well out of the way. Geremia Ortega took the field sprint by a bike length.
Cat4 – Just past the halfway mark of the 20 mile race, Nevin Rallis (Bikeman.com) and three others took off to establish a few seconds lead after a series of chases and reformations in the first part of the race. The lead group of four was trimmed to three and they stayed clear by about 7 seconds and got to sprint it out. Rallis won the three-up sprint with a blast of speed to come around the right side of Ben McCoy and Justin Neviakis.
Masters55 - A break of three formed in this race also, lead by Mark Hagen . With one to go, and partly because the Cat4s past the Masters55, Dusty Adams, who had been in no-mans-land between the break and the field, didn’t get the word that he had one to go and headed strait to the finish. Unfortunately his official result is a DNF even though he had been in fourth. At the "sprint", Mark Hagen (CCB) powered away from the other two in the break without even getting up from the saddle followed by Graydon Stevens (OA) and Bill Sawyer (Gearworks) in that order.
Masters35 – Mark McCormack (Team Fuji) and Johnny Bold (Corner Cycle) lined up with a stellar field of about 30 riders. Mark got away with a Corner Cycle rider (not Johnny) and Tom Francis (Bike Barn). Bold couldn’t cross to the break because his teammate was up the road. However, the teammate got dropped from the break leaving just Mark and Tom. They later caught the Cat3 field and passed through. This lead to confusion in counting the laps resulting in Mark and Tom doing an extra lap. Tom Francis stayed tied to Mark's wheel longer than most would have, but in the final 100 yards Markie pulled away for the win. Here's where it really got confusing at the finish line. The next riders through the finish were the Cat3 field, one lap sooner than the cat 3 break which never got passed by Markie and Tom. Then, the next through the finish was the Masters55 field sprint, and then finally the Cat3 winning break.
Cat3 – The Cambridge Bike team came in force to the MSRR. Their team leader, R Michael McKittrick, had publicly vowed months ago to boycott theTour of the Basttenkill and its suddenly increased entry fee. He stayed true to his word and dragged his team to Plymouth with him instead. Also lined up for the Cat3 race were several of the Gearworks masters team looking to get in some extra quality training miles. A group of three got off the front including Paul Curley (Gearworks), Luke Fortini (Specialized), and Gary Aspnes (Horst-Benidorm). That group would come to the finish line with Aspnes leading it out. If there is one thing in bike racing you don't want to do, it's lead out Paul Curley. That man has been racing since the days of penny farthings and knows exactly how to use you up in a sprint and come around for the win. That's exactly what he did. Fortini felt it wasn't a clean sprint but the result didn't change. Hopefully young Luke learned a thing or two from the Jedi sprint master.
Women – The race plan called for separate Pro123 and Cat4 fields, but almost everyone that showed up was a Cat4. So, the fields were combined into one race since they were to be on the course at the same time anyweay. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any info from the officials during this race so I don't have any details on how it developed. But, at the finish it was Kristen Gohr (Stage 5 Cycling) from the Pro field outsprinting Sheila Vibert (NHCC) from the Cat 4 field. Although the fields raced together, they were scored separately so they both won! Unfortunately, the exertion of the sprint caught up to Sheila after the line and she seemed to lose her concentration long enough to bump into Kristen. Both tumbled but at that point, 30 yards past the finish line, they had slowed down enough that neither was hurt. Still, its a lesson to everyone that the race isn't over until you are off your bike or at least have a foot down.
Mens Pro123 - Adam Myerson, Al Donahue, new dad Andy Mills, and about 15 others took the course for 15 laps. Donahue and Sean McCormack (Team Fuji) took off the front of the race about half way through. Sean couldn't hold the pace but Donahue kept going with teammate Dan Greenfield (both Wheelhouse/NCC). They would hold a two man team time trial until the finish and in the process they even caught and lapped about ten riders. With only a two mile lap, the officals decided to use criterium rules and finish the lapped riders on the same lap as the breakaway that caught them. So, when Donahue and Greenfield had completed their laps, the officials sent them all down the stem of the lollypop to the finish where Donahue took the win a few yards ahead of the field with Greenfield riding in comfortably for second. Minutes later, Myerson (Mountain Khakis), who had broken off the front of the main field, rolled in for third to claim a little gas money. As best known full pro in the race he had been a marked man. The rest of the field that wasn’t lapped straggled in one at a time for a while until the last unlapped rider (Luke Fortini) finished. Curiously, he placed 8th despite being the last rider to cross the line.
Masters 45 – Host club Mass Bay Road Club put four riders on the line. A lot of the riders in the field were in their second race of the day including Johnny Bold. Graydon Stevens was in his third race of the day. If you are going to drive all the way down from Maine, you might as well make it worth while. John Stonebarger (MassBay) had a much shorter ride from the other side of Plymouth and did it on his bike. It would be the perfect warmup except that he didn't realize that the road he took to get to the race was completely flodded in several places, worse even than the intended race course. He was too far into it to turn back and take a longer route around so he rode through it and arrived at the race with flooded shoes and shoe covers. This wouldn't probably be noteworthy except that it seemed to help because he won the race. After a series of attacks late in thelate stages of the race, Stonebarger counter attacked after Johnny Bold tried to go on the high point on the course with half a lap remaining. Stonebarger made the all-or-nothing move and managed to stay ahead of the entire field to take it all. Bold crossed the line in second with Joe Rano (Gearworks) right behind for third.
Next weekend I'll be at Ninigret to do the announcing for the Newhouse Criterium put on by Arc en Ciel racing. The weather can be challenging there this time of year, but it's always a fun day of racing on the built-for-bycles road loop there. Where else can you get so much cornering practice in one race? And, if the weather is decent on Sunday, you just might see me making my season debut with a number on my back at Wells Ave. I haven't been there in about 15 years, should be interesting.
Thanks for reading.
Showing posts with label Myles Standish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Myles Standish. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Myles Standish Circuit Race April 19th 2009
If any of you out there in the blogosphere have any influence with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), please use it to make them re-pave the roads in Myles Standish State Forest. If there was ever a more shovel ready project, I don’t know what it might be. The roads in MSSF are now, after this long winter, a complete disgrace. As a result, race promoter Bill Sykes made the difficult decision to move the race off of what was left of the traditional loop around the forest and move the race to the training race course around Charge Pond. It’s a 1.3 mile loop surrounded on one side by the pond and on the other by a camping area that is not yet open for the season. In short, it’s a great place for a training race, but kind of lackluster for one of the early season New England classics. It just isn’t the same without the possibility of someone taking a plunge into a recently thawed lake (yeah, it’s happened). But there really is no choice until the DCR paves the main loop around the forest.
It went pretty much like this:
Juniors 10-14 - Peter Goguen (Minuteman Road Club) won it in a break with Nate Morse (CLNoonan), Chris Worden and Peter Vollers Jr (Starthouse). All four young men have fathers who are either active or retired racers so it’s no surprise they formed the winning break. Peter has the extra benefit of having at least 3 older brothers who race as well (I’ve lost count of exactly how many bike racers that family has spawned).
Cat 5 – The 50 rider field limit suddenly looked like a good idea on the narrow roads and a full Cat 5 field this early in the season is a good sign for the future of the sport. Not much of note happened in the first 18 miles as the less experienced riders dropped off the back. Too bad they couldn’t stay in and finish, but this ain’t the marathon and the stragglers were pulled out by the officials. Anyone can ride 20 miles so there isn’t much pride to be had in simply finishing. About 36 riders finished in the field. As they passed through the start finish area to begin the last lap you could see the two BikeBarn guys, Andy Legan and Bill Kinney, making their way to the front with Bill keeping Andy out of the wind. Bill led Andy to the front and kept him there through most of the final lap but got slammed by the headwind on the backside of the course. Andy fended for himself from there and came around the final corner in second spot. He was gradually coming around the guy in first, Devin Riley, and had almost completed the pass when he inexplicably stopped pedaling with 30 yards to go. This allowed Riley to maintain his lead by just inches to the second cross walk which was the real finish line, not the first one that had been used during all four training races earlier in the season. Legan took home second prize and a valuable lesson – ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THE FINISH LINE IS.
Pro 1,2 – Mark McCormack (Team Fuji) and Jeff Craddock (CCB) took off early and worked smoothly together for several laps. They collected two $10 primes for their efforts, then they dropped back rather suddenly to the field losing a 30 second gap in just two laps. That’s weird, Markie and Craddock don’t just suddenly blow up like that. The field had split behind them but came back together as Frank McCormack pulled the field up. It was later theorized that Shawn McCormack (youngest of the three racing McCormack brothers) was the team leader for the day and since he didn’t make the break, Mark dropped back and Frankie pulled Shawn’s group up to the chase group. At the finish Shawn won after getting the best lead out in history from Mark, Craddock was second, and Frankie was third. Peter Vollers would later tell me how Frank and Mark can control a race so well that that their designated sprinter doesn’t have to do much in the race but sprint for the finish. Peter said they did it for him many times when they were together on the IME team in the 90s. Not to take anything away from Shawn who is obviously coming back into form after years off the bike, but apparently today was meant to be his day from the start.
Mas 45 – This one stayed together through the first half despite turning in the fastest lap times of the day including the previous Pro-1-2 race. The speed was due in large part to the very active Gearworks team that seemed to be constantly sending riders off the front. First to go was Tom (the Steamboat) Stevens. He went twice before Bob Bisson went twice. At the finish it was all together and Paul Curley (Gearworks) took the win from the final corner followed by Joe Rano (Bike Alley).
Juniors 15-18 Mystic Velo and CLNoonan made up half the field so they looked like favorites to win on the starting line. The field of 10 stayed together to the end. David Gilchrist (Mystic) led it out from the final corner and hung on to win with his team mate Ben Wolfe right behind in second. Chris Esposito, who came all the way from Maine, took home third place.
Masters 55- Mark Hagen (CCB), Dusty Adams (Mosaic Smalti) and a few other strong men took the line with a couple of first timers to make a field of 12. It didn’t take long to sort things out. One time heading up the strait to the start finish area Dusty had to shoo a turkey off the course as it almost got hit by the field trying to cross the road. They seem to be all of the forest these days, it must be mating season. After a bunch of accelerations and attacks mostly by Hagen, the top few came in together with Hagen taking the win followed right behind by Dusty Adams and Richard Cullen (Corner Cycle).
Cat 4 – The Cat 4 field was filled to the 50 rider limit but it didn’t take long to start shelling some off the back as the front of the field worked hard all race with some fast lap splits (around 3 minutes). Ryan Littlefield (Base 36) came to the front at the finish and stayed in the saddle to power up the slight hill for a win with the field unable to come around. On his wheel was Brett Walker (Hammer), then Greg Brown (Cape Cod Cyclists).
Mas 35 – This was another race that stayed together despite riding very hard. Ray Botelho (the One Man Wrecking Crew) and Eric Jensen (Bike Barn) always seemed to be at or near the front when the field came through the start finish. With 2.5 laps to go, Botelho took off from the front of the field and no one went with him. Jensen seemed to help him by sitting on whatever chase developed and then it got to the point where no one wanted to sacrifice their chance at second place so Botelho was gone to stay. He won by about 15 seconds followed by Paul Curley at the front of the field sprint, then Todd Rowell (NEBC).
Women – A field of about 13 started but they were of all different ability levels and ages ranging from Emily Curley (Gearworks) to Julie Lokhart (NEBC). After about 5 laps more or less together, 4 rolled off the front. Kristen Gohr and Lydia Mathger (both Colavita) along with Cathy Rowell (NEBC) and Carola Berger (Webcor) rode the remaining 12 laps together while the rest of the women formed small groups behind. Kristen Gohr won the halfway prime– she can sprint. At the finish Kristen led it out and took the win with her teammate Lydia right behind her, then Rowell and Berger followed right behind.
Cat 3 – This one was a barn burner because 17 Cat 3s decided to ride hard, really hard. They consistently rode the fastest laps of the day, even faster than the Pro -1-2 field. The Pros were turning in 3:00 minute laps. The Cat 3 field, dominated by the CLNoonan and NEBC teams with four riders each, was always below 3 minutes and commonly around 2:50 per lap. Somehow, Colin Huston (CLNoonan) and Kyle Smith (Cambridge Bike) went even faster and broke clear off the front. David Chiu (NEBC) didn’t wait long to jump on the train and leave the pack behind. With the two biggest teams in the race up front, Tom Middleton, the only rider in the race from the host Mass Bay/Bicycle Link Team, decided his best chance was to join the break. He later said it almost did him in making the bridge across, but he made it and recovered well enough to start taking his pulls. Meanwhile, the six NEBC and CLNoonan riders controlled the field for their team mates in the break. After a few laps Smith couldn’t maintain the pace of the break with only limited opportunities to rest and dropped back to the field. The remaining three stayed away and Huston led out the sprint all the way up the finishing strait and dropped Chiu and Middleton. Chiu managed to hold off Middleton then 30 seconds or so later, Paul Lynch (CLNoonan) won the field sprint for fourth.
David Potter was kind enough to be the in-race camera man for the day during the Masters 35 race. I’ll have some race video posted as soon as I figure out how to edit it down to a reasonable length. Check back soon.
It went pretty much like this:
Juniors 10-14 - Peter Goguen (Minuteman Road Club) won it in a break with Nate Morse (CLNoonan), Chris Worden and Peter Vollers Jr (Starthouse). All four young men have fathers who are either active or retired racers so it’s no surprise they formed the winning break. Peter has the extra benefit of having at least 3 older brothers who race as well (I’ve lost count of exactly how many bike racers that family has spawned).
Cat 5 – The 50 rider field limit suddenly looked like a good idea on the narrow roads and a full Cat 5 field this early in the season is a good sign for the future of the sport. Not much of note happened in the first 18 miles as the less experienced riders dropped off the back. Too bad they couldn’t stay in and finish, but this ain’t the marathon and the stragglers were pulled out by the officials. Anyone can ride 20 miles so there isn’t much pride to be had in simply finishing. About 36 riders finished in the field. As they passed through the start finish area to begin the last lap you could see the two BikeBarn guys, Andy Legan and Bill Kinney, making their way to the front with Bill keeping Andy out of the wind. Bill led Andy to the front and kept him there through most of the final lap but got slammed by the headwind on the backside of the course. Andy fended for himself from there and came around the final corner in second spot. He was gradually coming around the guy in first, Devin Riley, and had almost completed the pass when he inexplicably stopped pedaling with 30 yards to go. This allowed Riley to maintain his lead by just inches to the second cross walk which was the real finish line, not the first one that had been used during all four training races earlier in the season. Legan took home second prize and a valuable lesson – ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THE FINISH LINE IS.
Pro 1,2 – Mark McCormack (Team Fuji) and Jeff Craddock (CCB) took off early and worked smoothly together for several laps. They collected two $10 primes for their efforts, then they dropped back rather suddenly to the field losing a 30 second gap in just two laps. That’s weird, Markie and Craddock don’t just suddenly blow up like that. The field had split behind them but came back together as Frank McCormack pulled the field up. It was later theorized that Shawn McCormack (youngest of the three racing McCormack brothers) was the team leader for the day and since he didn’t make the break, Mark dropped back and Frankie pulled Shawn’s group up to the chase group. At the finish Shawn won after getting the best lead out in history from Mark, Craddock was second, and Frankie was third. Peter Vollers would later tell me how Frank and Mark can control a race so well that that their designated sprinter doesn’t have to do much in the race but sprint for the finish. Peter said they did it for him many times when they were together on the IME team in the 90s. Not to take anything away from Shawn who is obviously coming back into form after years off the bike, but apparently today was meant to be his day from the start.
Mas 45 – This one stayed together through the first half despite turning in the fastest lap times of the day including the previous Pro-1-2 race. The speed was due in large part to the very active Gearworks team that seemed to be constantly sending riders off the front. First to go was Tom (the Steamboat) Stevens. He went twice before Bob Bisson went twice. At the finish it was all together and Paul Curley (Gearworks) took the win from the final corner followed by Joe Rano (Bike Alley).
Juniors 15-18 Mystic Velo and CLNoonan made up half the field so they looked like favorites to win on the starting line. The field of 10 stayed together to the end. David Gilchrist (Mystic) led it out from the final corner and hung on to win with his team mate Ben Wolfe right behind in second. Chris Esposito, who came all the way from Maine, took home third place.
Masters 55- Mark Hagen (CCB), Dusty Adams (Mosaic Smalti) and a few other strong men took the line with a couple of first timers to make a field of 12. It didn’t take long to sort things out. One time heading up the strait to the start finish area Dusty had to shoo a turkey off the course as it almost got hit by the field trying to cross the road. They seem to be all of the forest these days, it must be mating season. After a bunch of accelerations and attacks mostly by Hagen, the top few came in together with Hagen taking the win followed right behind by Dusty Adams and Richard Cullen (Corner Cycle).
Cat 4 – The Cat 4 field was filled to the 50 rider limit but it didn’t take long to start shelling some off the back as the front of the field worked hard all race with some fast lap splits (around 3 minutes). Ryan Littlefield (Base 36) came to the front at the finish and stayed in the saddle to power up the slight hill for a win with the field unable to come around. On his wheel was Brett Walker (Hammer), then Greg Brown (Cape Cod Cyclists).
Mas 35 – This was another race that stayed together despite riding very hard. Ray Botelho (the One Man Wrecking Crew) and Eric Jensen (Bike Barn) always seemed to be at or near the front when the field came through the start finish. With 2.5 laps to go, Botelho took off from the front of the field and no one went with him. Jensen seemed to help him by sitting on whatever chase developed and then it got to the point where no one wanted to sacrifice their chance at second place so Botelho was gone to stay. He won by about 15 seconds followed by Paul Curley at the front of the field sprint, then Todd Rowell (NEBC).
Women – A field of about 13 started but they were of all different ability levels and ages ranging from Emily Curley (Gearworks) to Julie Lokhart (NEBC). After about 5 laps more or less together, 4 rolled off the front. Kristen Gohr and Lydia Mathger (both Colavita) along with Cathy Rowell (NEBC) and Carola Berger (Webcor) rode the remaining 12 laps together while the rest of the women formed small groups behind. Kristen Gohr won the halfway prime– she can sprint. At the finish Kristen led it out and took the win with her teammate Lydia right behind her, then Rowell and Berger followed right behind.
Cat 3 – This one was a barn burner because 17 Cat 3s decided to ride hard, really hard. They consistently rode the fastest laps of the day, even faster than the Pro -1-2 field. The Pros were turning in 3:00 minute laps. The Cat 3 field, dominated by the CLNoonan and NEBC teams with four riders each, was always below 3 minutes and commonly around 2:50 per lap. Somehow, Colin Huston (CLNoonan) and Kyle Smith (Cambridge Bike) went even faster and broke clear off the front. David Chiu (NEBC) didn’t wait long to jump on the train and leave the pack behind. With the two biggest teams in the race up front, Tom Middleton, the only rider in the race from the host Mass Bay/Bicycle Link Team, decided his best chance was to join the break. He later said it almost did him in making the bridge across, but he made it and recovered well enough to start taking his pulls. Meanwhile, the six NEBC and CLNoonan riders controlled the field for their team mates in the break. After a few laps Smith couldn’t maintain the pace of the break with only limited opportunities to rest and dropped back to the field. The remaining three stayed away and Huston led out the sprint all the way up the finishing strait and dropped Chiu and Middleton. Chiu managed to hold off Middleton then 30 seconds or so later, Paul Lynch (CLNoonan) won the field sprint for fourth.
David Potter was kind enough to be the in-race camera man for the day during the Masters 35 race. I’ll have some race video posted as soon as I figure out how to edit it down to a reasonable length. Check back soon.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me recently and I have a couple more to go before life returns to normal. as a result, blogging time is at a minimum. Nonetheless, I wanted to post a recap of some of the more interesting races at the Myles Standish Road Race before I take off on my next trip.
The Myles Standish Road Race in Plymouth is one of the spring classics in New England. Much like the spring classics in northern Europe (Paris Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Fleche Wallonne etc) this race is characterized by bad weather, rough roads, inevitable crashing, and steep short climbs. Another race held the same weekend in upstate NY has claimed the title "L'Enfer du Nord" (the hell of the north) and probably rightfully so, but Myles Standish isn't far behind in diabolical difficulty.
I fully expected to need several layers of fleece and a rain jacket as per usual, but the day dawned beautiful and only got better. Very uncharacteristic for early spring so close to the cold waters of Cape Cod Bay. Several people were heard saying "it just doesn't feel like a Myles Standish race".
The racing started early in the morning with the cub juniors taking the course first. A determined crew took the line in the parking lot and hit the road at full speed before the pace car even shifted into drive. One lap later Tommy Goguen took the win with a comfortable margin. over his younger brother.
The CLNoonan team was in control of the Junior 15+ race from the start. With so much disparity between the experienced juniors and the beginners, half the field never stood a chance. Hopefully they will get some good coaching and racing experience before they get discouraged. The 6 riders in the lead group, three of them from CLNoonan, came into the finish with blazing speed as CLNoonan wound up the lead out for the sprint.
The Masters45+ race split up on the first lap with Colman O'Connor of the host club, MassBay/Bicycle Link, and two riders from the Gearworks team taking matters into their own hands. The group of three got away clean and established a comfortable lead of over 20 seconds. With two laps complete, the lead was still growing. Then O'Connor dropped his two companions on the one significant hill in the course, a fairly steep but not too long climb in the first 1/4 of the 5 mile loop. Colman has shown in the past, including winning the race last year, that he has the fitness to win so the others must have been hurting bad to let him go. His lead kept growing and he was out of site when he won. Paul Curly from Gearworks took second from the field.
In the women's race, Kathy Rowell from NEBC got it going with an early breakaway but was caught by 4 riders who tagged onto the Cat 4 field after it passed through. Lydia Mathger broke from the reformed lead group to win solo.
In the Pro 1 2 race an early break of 5 including two of the most powerful teams, Sakkonet and Fuji, took off. This included the older guard of the local cycling scene represented by Mark McCormack, and the up and coming Danny Estevez. Jake Keough from Sakkonet tried to make the bridge across the 2 minute gap after his team mate Estevez dropped out of the break. This left 4 in the lead group (McCormack, Todd Rowell, Jason Beerman, and Rob King) followed by Estevez followed by Keough and one companion. King lead out the sprint but the most expereinced rider in the break, if not the entire day of racing, Mark McCormack (Fuji) came around him for the victory.
It was a great day of racing with only a couple of minor scrapes. The race's old reputation as a crash fest seems to be a thing of the past now that the course and the finishing stretch have bee modified. However, if the roads continue to degrade without repair more changes might need to be made.
The Myles Standish Road Race in Plymouth is one of the spring classics in New England. Much like the spring classics in northern Europe (Paris Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Fleche Wallonne etc) this race is characterized by bad weather, rough roads, inevitable crashing, and steep short climbs. Another race held the same weekend in upstate NY has claimed the title "L'Enfer du Nord" (the hell of the north) and probably rightfully so, but Myles Standish isn't far behind in diabolical difficulty.
I fully expected to need several layers of fleece and a rain jacket as per usual, but the day dawned beautiful and only got better. Very uncharacteristic for early spring so close to the cold waters of Cape Cod Bay. Several people were heard saying "it just doesn't feel like a Myles Standish race".
The racing started early in the morning with the cub juniors taking the course first. A determined crew took the line in the parking lot and hit the road at full speed before the pace car even shifted into drive. One lap later Tommy Goguen took the win with a comfortable margin. over his younger brother.
The CLNoonan team was in control of the Junior 15+ race from the start. With so much disparity between the experienced juniors and the beginners, half the field never stood a chance. Hopefully they will get some good coaching and racing experience before they get discouraged. The 6 riders in the lead group, three of them from CLNoonan, came into the finish with blazing speed as CLNoonan wound up the lead out for the sprint.
The Masters45+ race split up on the first lap with Colman O'Connor of the host club, MassBay/Bicycle Link, and two riders from the Gearworks team taking matters into their own hands. The group of three got away clean and established a comfortable lead of over 20 seconds. With two laps complete, the lead was still growing. Then O'Connor dropped his two companions on the one significant hill in the course, a fairly steep but not too long climb in the first 1/4 of the 5 mile loop. Colman has shown in the past, including winning the race last year, that he has the fitness to win so the others must have been hurting bad to let him go. His lead kept growing and he was out of site when he won. Paul Curly from Gearworks took second from the field.
In the women's race, Kathy Rowell from NEBC got it going with an early breakaway but was caught by 4 riders who tagged onto the Cat 4 field after it passed through. Lydia Mathger broke from the reformed lead group to win solo.
In the Pro 1 2 race an early break of 5 including two of the most powerful teams, Sakkonet and Fuji, took off. This included the older guard of the local cycling scene represented by Mark McCormack, and the up and coming Danny Estevez. Jake Keough from Sakkonet tried to make the bridge across the 2 minute gap after his team mate Estevez dropped out of the break. This left 4 in the lead group (McCormack, Todd Rowell, Jason Beerman, and Rob King) followed by Estevez followed by Keough and one companion. King lead out the sprint but the most expereinced rider in the break, if not the entire day of racing, Mark McCormack (Fuji) came around him for the victory.
It was a great day of racing with only a couple of minor scrapes. The race's old reputation as a crash fest seems to be a thing of the past now that the course and the finishing stretch have bee modified. However, if the roads continue to degrade without repair more changes might need to be made.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Here we go, here we go, here we go again
The 2008 bike racing season starts this weekend. Sure, there were a few training races and there have been two weeks of "real races" so far, but I didn't ride in or announce at any of those so they don't count. This weekend I break out the speakers and the microphone (and all the parts that go in between) for the first time in 2008.
It all starts Saturday with the Rick Newhouse Criterium on the bike race course at Ninigret State Park in Charlestown RI. Rick Newhouse was a member of the Arc-en-ciel Racing Team out of Rhode Island who died of cancer a couple of years ago. The feature race of the day started last year with a memorial parade lap lead by Rick's wife. I hope they do it again. The proceeds go to support the family Rick left behind.
The course alone makes this race unique in New England because it was made specifically for racing bikes. It is a perfectly flat paved loop with lots of little turns thrown in to make it somewhat interesting. The wind is usually blowing like hell off the ocean there in April and its usually raining whenever I am there. As I recall it was the only place that I ever experienced a Cat III field forming echelons. Very Belgian. They didn't last long though because the longest straightaway is only a few hundred yards long then suddenly you were going 10 miles per hour faster with the wind. At least the poor fool on the point didn't have to take the brunt of the wind for too long. On the bright side, there is absolutely no traffic to contend with and no potholes. And there is a nice covered wooden structure that I can do the announcing from, so no matter how bad the weather gets, I can stay dry if not warm. The forecast for Saturday was good last I checked.
Then, Sunday is the Doyenne of New England (Doyenne means something like grand old lady in Belgium and France) . They call the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Race "La Doyenne" because it is the oldest of the classics. The Myles Standish Road Race is one of the oldest in New England and within one lap you will be certain that the roads haven't been paved since before the race was first conceived by the Mass Bay Road Club years and years ago. My dad took me to see the Myles Standish Road Race when I was about 10 years old. It was the first bike race I ever saw. That was about 33 years ago and I am pretty sure the roads haven't been paved since. I would like to say that seeing the race inspired me, but I didn't enter a bike race myself for at least another 12 years after that. These things take time. Bring your strongest wheels and maybe leave the tires a few pounds light. It's going to be a little bit like Paris Roubaix. Flats will happen, things will break, and water bottles will fly so bend those cages down extra tight if you don't want to loose yours. That is unless they are those new fangled carbon fiber cages in which case a wrap or two of duct tape around the bottle would be a better choice.
Race promoter Bill Sykes altered the route last year so that the finish line is in a safer place. The short uphill finish helps keep the top speeds down a little bit. It probably favors the all rounder with some extra leg strength over the pure sprinter or pure climber.
The Myles Standish race got a reputation over the years as being a bit dicey, especially the finish. But that was on the old course with the finish line way out on the back roads. Since the dam at East Head Pond broke through a few years ago, the course has been shortened and the finish moved. The finish used to be on a wide open windy stretch of road after a couple of rolling hills. It seemed that when there was a tailwind finish the front of the pack would wind up too early and fade before the line. This left them fading back in anaerobic agony as the second wave accelerated to top speed. That two way traffic is what I always thought caused the crashes. And the fact that almost no one had sprinted at 38 mph for 6 months didn't help either. SQUIRRELY!! If the wind was blowing the other way (a headwind finish), the top speeds were more reasonable and the sprints were safer. You just looked for any wheel you could hide behind until you had to make a move. But what do I know, I never won it.
Then, as soon as the last race is over, it's off to Logan Airport for my flight to Amsterdam. I'm going to see the Fleche Wallonne race in Belgium on Wednesday and hopefully fit in a little riding in the heartland of bike racing. I will try to take some pictures for the next post.
It all starts Saturday with the Rick Newhouse Criterium on the bike race course at Ninigret State Park in Charlestown RI. Rick Newhouse was a member of the Arc-en-ciel Racing Team out of Rhode Island who died of cancer a couple of years ago. The feature race of the day started last year with a memorial parade lap lead by Rick's wife. I hope they do it again. The proceeds go to support the family Rick left behind.
The course alone makes this race unique in New England because it was made specifically for racing bikes. It is a perfectly flat paved loop with lots of little turns thrown in to make it somewhat interesting. The wind is usually blowing like hell off the ocean there in April and its usually raining whenever I am there. As I recall it was the only place that I ever experienced a Cat III field forming echelons. Very Belgian. They didn't last long though because the longest straightaway is only a few hundred yards long then suddenly you were going 10 miles per hour faster with the wind. At least the poor fool on the point didn't have to take the brunt of the wind for too long. On the bright side, there is absolutely no traffic to contend with and no potholes. And there is a nice covered wooden structure that I can do the announcing from, so no matter how bad the weather gets, I can stay dry if not warm. The forecast for Saturday was good last I checked.
Then, Sunday is the Doyenne of New England (Doyenne means something like grand old lady in Belgium and France) . They call the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Race "La Doyenne" because it is the oldest of the classics. The Myles Standish Road Race is one of the oldest in New England and within one lap you will be certain that the roads haven't been paved since before the race was first conceived by the Mass Bay Road Club years and years ago. My dad took me to see the Myles Standish Road Race when I was about 10 years old. It was the first bike race I ever saw. That was about 33 years ago and I am pretty sure the roads haven't been paved since. I would like to say that seeing the race inspired me, but I didn't enter a bike race myself for at least another 12 years after that. These things take time. Bring your strongest wheels and maybe leave the tires a few pounds light. It's going to be a little bit like Paris Roubaix. Flats will happen, things will break, and water bottles will fly so bend those cages down extra tight if you don't want to loose yours. That is unless they are those new fangled carbon fiber cages in which case a wrap or two of duct tape around the bottle would be a better choice.
Race promoter Bill Sykes altered the route last year so that the finish line is in a safer place. The short uphill finish helps keep the top speeds down a little bit. It probably favors the all rounder with some extra leg strength over the pure sprinter or pure climber.
The Myles Standish race got a reputation over the years as being a bit dicey, especially the finish. But that was on the old course with the finish line way out on the back roads. Since the dam at East Head Pond broke through a few years ago, the course has been shortened and the finish moved. The finish used to be on a wide open windy stretch of road after a couple of rolling hills. It seemed that when there was a tailwind finish the front of the pack would wind up too early and fade before the line. This left them fading back in anaerobic agony as the second wave accelerated to top speed. That two way traffic is what I always thought caused the crashes. And the fact that almost no one had sprinted at 38 mph for 6 months didn't help either. SQUIRRELY!! If the wind was blowing the other way (a headwind finish), the top speeds were more reasonable and the sprints were safer. You just looked for any wheel you could hide behind until you had to make a move. But what do I know, I never won it.
Then, as soon as the last race is over, it's off to Logan Airport for my flight to Amsterdam. I'm going to see the Fleche Wallonne race in Belgium on Wednesday and hopefully fit in a little riding in the heartland of bike racing. I will try to take some pictures for the next post.
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