The Gate City Cyclone, now in its third year at Holman Stadium in Nashua (or actually around the stadium) is fast becoming a favorite of racers from New England and beyond. With a little something for everyone on its 0.75 mile loop, the course is just challenging enough for great racing without being too technical for the entry level racers. And nearly constant primes, compliments of Goodale’s Bike Shop in Nashua, don’t hurt either. Even the Cat 4-5 race was sprinting for three-place primes every 2 to 3 laps.
The guys from the BOB (Bunch of Bikers) club had the course set up and looking great before the Kids’ races started at 8:45. Besides being huge on the cute factor, the kids’ races are where the future Gate City Cyclone champions are forged. Big fields of 10-15 kids contested the first few age groups for the youngest kids, but participation tapered off to just one racer in the 12-13 year old age group and none registered in the 14-15. What happens to kids when they reach 12 that they no longer ride their bikes? I can understand a big drop off in participation at 16 years old when kids get their driver’s licenses, but why at 12? On one hand I hope that some of them become part of the great sport that is bike racing. But on the other hand, I could understand why a parent wouldn’t encourage their kid to enter what is starting to seem to me like a dangerous endeavor. But we’ll get to that….
Cat 4-5
There were a few 14 and 15 year olds in the Cat 4-5 race and they could have had a decent kids’ race just amongst themselves. But the Kids’ Races are meant for beginner racers, not USAC licensees so they were in the Cat 4-5 race because there was no USAC junior race on the program this year. Both Nate Morse (CLNoonan), who is about 14, and Tommy Goguen (Minuteman Road Club), who is about the same age, both won primes in this race.
The pace was relatively fast for a Cat 4-5 field with the prime bell ringing every few laps. The Cat 5s who had never raced for primes before (Cat 5 races can’t have primes unless the race is combined with Cat 4) were probably shell shocked with about 10 three-place primes in this 24 lap race. Plus, the prize list went to 10 places for the almost full field of 70 starters.
The front of the race stayed together throughout but lots of inexperienced riders fell off the back. I hate to see them get pulled out because that is so discouraging to a new rider, but on a short technical course like this, it had to be done. And as the announcer, I have to tell them that they are done for the day. In that situation, I always remember when Dick Ring pulled me out of my first race, the UMass criterium in 1988, for which I was nowhere near prepared. Fortunately, I am stubborn by nature and persevered through quite a few more races where I got the hook. I hope the current crop of Cat 5s does the same.
Chris Esposito, a junior recently upgraded to Cat 4, won the race with Bryon Lewis (Colavita) right behind. A total of 47 riders finished of the 70 that started. I’ve seen Chris Esposito ride well a couple of times now. Some team should pick him up while he is still unattached.
Women Pro123
A small but very strong field of 11 lined up for the women’s race including three Nashua locals: Sally Annis (Hub Racing), Kerry Litka (UNH) and Katherine Snell (Northeast). Also present was Rebecca Wellons (Northeast) who seems to be winning everything this year, and a strong team from the Sunapee squad. This is the first time I have ever seen a race with more prime prizes than racers, but race promoter Ron Bingham wanted to stick to the plan and give it all away despite the relatively small field. There were a total of 7 three-place primes (21 prizes total) in this race of 11 riders. Crazy!
Wellons, Clara Kelly (Northeast), Anna McLoon (Altarum), and Danielle Ruane (Sunapee) got away about half way through the race. The chase formed and dissolved and reformed but those 4 would stay away with Wellons winning the sprint by two bike lengths. This was a change from recent races where Rebecca has ridden away from the field for solo victories including New Britain and Yarmouth. Maybe she was getting tired of riding alone in races, but more likely this field was a little stronger with the very fast Anna McLoon (who would later ride and finish the Men’s Pro123 race) and several equally strong riders from the Sunapee team all ready to ride hard. Anna was next followed by Danielle and Clara.
With only 11 racers, this was the only field of the day’s four races that was not either filled or close to the 75 rider field limit. With perfect weather for racing and no other road racing events in New England in conflict, there is no obvious reason. Not many promoters are going to be able to offer prize lists and primes, or precious time on a race’s schedule of events, for 11 rider fields. Are there really that few women racers around? I heard someone mention maybe including Cat 4 women in the race next year to increase attendance. That seems like a good idea, but how many entry level women are going to want to race against Cat 1s? Separate fields on the course at the same time might be an option, but I’ve seen that go terribly wrong more than once.
Masters 35
Dick Ring, aka “the Voice of New England Bike Racing” grabbed a mic at this point and the stories and insight started flowing. While I tried to keep up with him, I did not get to watch as much of this race as I would have liked. As we traded pulls on the PA system, a few moves went up the road, mostly thanks to Bill Yarbrody (NBX). But they were all brought back when the pack decided not to concede the race so early to a solo time trial or small group. Kyle Gates (Millwork) won the half way prime, a Cycle-ops trainer worth $350. Greg Melone (Gearworks) went on a solo flier with about three laps to go in a do or die move.
In one of the greatest ever examples of Murphy’s second law (if something can go wrong, it will go wrong at the worst possible time), the generator ran out of gas just before the bell rang for one lap to go. The PA went dead and more importantly so did the finish line camera. So, the Masters race had a silent finish that had to be picked old-school by the officials without the benefit of the camera. It all worked out ok even though it got close at the end. Melone barely stayed clear for the win with the charging pack sprinting to full speed across the road behind him. The one closest to catching him was Patrick Ruane (Sunapee), followed by Steve Stockwell (Sunapee), and Ciaran Mangan (CCB).
Men Pro 123
After filling the generator with gas, we got the Men’s Pro 123 race going. A full field of 75 took the line including a strong showing of 7 riders from Equipe Volkswagen-Specialized from Quebec. About 5 laps in, there was a bad crash on the first sweeping corner right after we rung the bell for the first prime. Peter Bell (Met Life) and another rider were down but Bell could not get up. The race would be neutralized when they came around again however the hard charging pack was gunning for its first prime of the race. Fortunately the crash was a few hundred yards after the line so there was time to neutralize the field. They were however surprised that the pace vehicle (a very “mod” yellow Vespa scooter) reacted to the instruction to slow down much quicker than did the racers, many of whom narrowly avoided the scooter while decelerating. Good thing it wasn’t a car!
Bell was taken to the hospital in the ambulance and after a 20 minute delay, the race was restarted with one neutral lap to get the blood flowing again, then the racing resumed. The Volkswagen-Specialized team snagged most of the primes tipping their hand as the dominant squad in the race. These boys didn’t drive 5 hours from Quebec to watch the locals race, especially Guillaume Boivin who took either first or second in almost every three-place prime. There were some attacks throughout the race but nothing stuck. The Quebecois kept at least two riders at the front of the field the entire race and when it really mattered, Boivin took the sprint from 100 yards out for the win. Morgan Hiller (CLNoonan) took a very respectable second place only a bike length or so behind the Canadian professional. Jake Hollenbach (CRCA)rounded out the podium.
I haven’t heard how Peter Bell is doing and I didn’t see the aftermath of the crash from where I was. I heard he was taken away on a backboard and that is a common precaution for victims of crashes of any kind. But it gets me to thinking about the safety of this sport. I’ve crashed a few times but never anything serious, just the red badge of courage on a hip, elbow, or knee. But a lot worse can, and sometimes does, happen when we suddenly hit the ground at high speed. We all have our war stories, but have we ever really thought about the risk we are taking riding elbow to elbow at 30 mph wearing nothing but a thin layer of spandex over most of our bodies? That is part of what draws us to the sport and creates some of its legendary mystique. But people have died doing this. It’s no wonder that parents aren’t encouraging their kids to race bikes. Any parent that saw what happened to Peter Bell, whatever the outcome is, would be crazy to send their kid off to the same fate. They could get most of the same benefits from playing soccer or competitive swimming and have very little risk of serious injury.
Maybe I’m just thinking about this too much given the recent accidents at the Tour (is Jens Voigt out of the hospital yet?), Nashua, and a member of my club who crashed at Wells Ave this Sunday and is still in the hospital with broken facial bones. Accidents will always happen at all levels of the sport, but can we make this sport safer somehow?
Showing posts with label gate city cyclone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gate city cyclone. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Gate City Cyclone
Gate City Cyclone, Nashua, NH
August 9th, 2008
The BOB (Bunch of Bikers) team and Goodale’s Bike Shop hosted the 2nd annual Gate City Cyclone around Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH. A combination of public roads, parking lot and driveways around the minor league baseball stadium made an interesting and somewhat technical course with one rise and a couple of tricky corners.
The day started with kid’s races for ages groups up to 15 years of age. Some of the potential future champions of the sport were on hand with as many as 16 kids in some of the age groups. Nate Morse won the 12-13 year olds’ race easily riding away from the others. Of course, he has the advantage of also being a category 4 USCF racer while the others didn’t have the same level of experience. He later raced the Cat 4/5 event as well. The two 14-15 year old racers , Sean Suprenant and Keith Vaillancourt, took the line and watched each other like two match sprinters on the track waiting for the other guy to flinch and start the race for real. As they came within site of the finish line, a distance of about 400 meters, they were still together and barely starting to increase the pace. Vaillancourt pulled ahead, leading out the sprint, and managed to hold on to a 10 meter lead at the finish.
The Cat 4/5 race started with a three place prime right out of the blocks, no warm up. That was just the first of many with a total value of $1,500 in the Cat 4/5 race alone. A two-man break of Northeast Bike Club (NEBC) riders got a 15 second lead and took the top two places in the next 3 place prime then it all came back together and finished, after several more primes, with a curb to curb sprint finish. Chris Gagne of Boston Road Club, who had been keeping a low profile throughout the race, never contesting a prime, came through the middle of the charging field when it counted. As the only BRC rider in race you can’t blame him for keeping a low profile given the numbers some of the other clubs, NEBC in particular, had in the race.
The Womens Pro1/2/3 race was also loaded with the red and white jerseys of the NEBC team. With 16 riders in the field at the start, more than half were NEBC including Rebecca Wellons and Sally Annis who were 1st and 2nd at Yarmouth two weeks previous. The race split in two about half way through with 8 in the front and 8 in the chase. From the lead group, Sally Annis (who is from Nashua) and Mary Zider (also NEBC) got away and stayed away while the rest of the field, powered by the few not on the NEBC squad, caught the rest of the break. Annis and Zider built a lead of over 20 seconds while closing in on the finish and the gap only got bigger in the final laps as the riders on the other teams decided to quit the chase and save something for the sprint. Annis and Zider crossed the line together while completing a quick index-finger-touch salute (like ET and Elliot) with Sally (the hometown rider) slightly ahead for the win. The field sprint was taken by the Sunapee team duo of Eve McNeil and Samantha Newman with another six places in the money right behind them. You won’t often see a race with 10 paying places for a 16 man or woman field. The 16 riders raced for a $500 prize list and merchandise primes with a total value of almost $1500. Thanks to race promoter Ron Bingham for providing prize list parity for the ladies, but if a few more don’t make it to the race next year, it might be hard to continue that way.
The host club, BOB, was well represented in the Masters35+ race with 7 riders on the start line. The field limit of 75 was almost reached ensuring a barn burner of a race with lots of horsepower to burn for 45 minutes plus 5 laps. And if the presence of some of the best bike racers in New England wasn’t enough, there were once again lots of merchandise primes to keep things moving briskly. The announcer (me) and Primemaster Bill Dempster found some unique ways to give away the goods. They decided to make some of the primes two lap “races within the race” instead of the customary 1 lap affair. That means that the riders were given a 1 lap warning before the bell was rung for the actual prime lap. That provided a little more time for strategies to develop and at the half way prime, it led to a group of 5 going up the road to contest the prime. But with just 3 laps to go, Bill Yarbrody (NBX/Narragansett Beer) was the only one still away. He tried to hold on for the solo victory but his escape ended within site of the line when he got swarmed by the field which was working up to full speed for the sprint. At the front of the field, Paul Richard (CCB), Mike Norton (Cyclonauts) and Gary Steinberg of Cnetury Road Club charged to the front of the sprint. Norton was in the middle and seemed to get squished from both sides as the three fought elbow to elbow down the center of the road toward the finish line. Norton had to hold back for a pedal stroke or two and lost a little ground to the others. Steinberg took the sprint while Norton made his way through the roadblock to claim second. As riders crossed the line, several were yelling the same race number to the attention of the officials and when it was over a protest against Paul Richard was made and upheld after several riders corroborated the same story about him sweeping riders to the outside going through the final corner. He was relegated from 3rd to 11th place (one place out of the money) for dangerous riding. That change put Sam Morse (Corner Cycle), Nate's father, into third place. Yarbrody, the last of the foxes to be caught, ended up in 15th place but deserves credit for giving it a go solo.
The Pro1/2/3 race also started with a near full field of almost 75 riders. A break of 7 got away a few laps in and developed a lead of up to 30 seconds by the halfway prime which included a pair of wheels for first prize. Chase groups formed and got re-caught as the field tried to figure out who was going to chase the lead group. The 7 riders away saw their lead chipped down to a low of 14 seconds and it looked like the foxes would be caught by the hounds. The foxes included Alec Donohue (NERAC), Jason Beerman and Eric Tremble (both Kenda/Raleigh), Tim Unkhert (Stolen Underground), Josh Dillon (Fiordifrutta), Todd Yezefski (Fitness Together) and J Allain Ferry (Met Life). But either the hounds lost interest or the foxes decided their best hope was to work a little harder and stay away. With 3 laps to go (2.3 miles) the field finally gave up the chase and settled in for the sprint for the remaining 8 places. With two men in the break, we expected to see the Kenda guys use their advantage and either send one up the road in a solo effort or, or if neither guy was up for the solo effort, set up a lead out for the sprint. Instead, they followed the wheels and Eric Tremble took a very respectable second place behind race winner Todd Yezefski. When asked about the strategy after the race, Tremble admitted that they should probably have tried to work their advantage more effectively. He even said that he heard the announcer (me) describing the possible strategies over the PA system and thought “yeah, that would be a good idea, we should try that: but we didn’t do it”.
Randon thoughts:
The Gate City Cyclone was the first race I have ever seen use a Vespa scooter as a pace vehicle. It did just fine and probably saved 2 or 3 gallons of gas compared to the typical sports car pace vehicle. This makes too much sense. Can we do it this way a little more often and "green" the sport a little?
Dick Ring, “the Voice of New England Bicycle Racing”, was on hand to receive the Gate City Cyclone’s Humanitarian Award for all he has done for the sport of bike racing. The award was presented to Mr. Ring in front of the Pro1/2/3 field. Many of the riders remember hearing Dick at races all across New England but it has been long enough now since Dick last traveled the race circuit that quite a few riders on the line had never heard him announce a race. They got their chance as Dick remained on stage and grabbed a microphone to help me call the featured men's race of the day. Despite having been retired for 6 or 7 years now, he has not lost a step. We didn't get any of the classic lines out of him ("Lord love a duck", "groove in on that one", etc.) but he kept the talk going throughout the entire race. It was exhausting keeping up with him as we tag teamed the dialogue for over an hour TdF style. I was spent by the end of the race, but Dick sounded like he could have carried on for a couple more hours. But, the racing for the day was over and it was time to pack up and head home. I hope I get a chance to work with Dick Ring again soon, I’ll always have an extra microphone ready for him. If you have never heard him call a race, or if you have and you miss the Voice of New England Bike Racing, stop by the New England Velodrome in Londonderry, New Hampshire (www.nevelodrome.com).
August 9th, 2008
The BOB (Bunch of Bikers) team and Goodale’s Bike Shop hosted the 2nd annual Gate City Cyclone around Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH. A combination of public roads, parking lot and driveways around the minor league baseball stadium made an interesting and somewhat technical course with one rise and a couple of tricky corners.
The day started with kid’s races for ages groups up to 15 years of age. Some of the potential future champions of the sport were on hand with as many as 16 kids in some of the age groups. Nate Morse won the 12-13 year olds’ race easily riding away from the others. Of course, he has the advantage of also being a category 4 USCF racer while the others didn’t have the same level of experience. He later raced the Cat 4/5 event as well. The two 14-15 year old racers , Sean Suprenant and Keith Vaillancourt, took the line and watched each other like two match sprinters on the track waiting for the other guy to flinch and start the race for real. As they came within site of the finish line, a distance of about 400 meters, they were still together and barely starting to increase the pace. Vaillancourt pulled ahead, leading out the sprint, and managed to hold on to a 10 meter lead at the finish.
The Cat 4/5 race started with a three place prime right out of the blocks, no warm up. That was just the first of many with a total value of $1,500 in the Cat 4/5 race alone. A two-man break of Northeast Bike Club (NEBC) riders got a 15 second lead and took the top two places in the next 3 place prime then it all came back together and finished, after several more primes, with a curb to curb sprint finish. Chris Gagne of Boston Road Club, who had been keeping a low profile throughout the race, never contesting a prime, came through the middle of the charging field when it counted. As the only BRC rider in race you can’t blame him for keeping a low profile given the numbers some of the other clubs, NEBC in particular, had in the race.
The Womens Pro1/2/3 race was also loaded with the red and white jerseys of the NEBC team. With 16 riders in the field at the start, more than half were NEBC including Rebecca Wellons and Sally Annis who were 1st and 2nd at Yarmouth two weeks previous. The race split in two about half way through with 8 in the front and 8 in the chase. From the lead group, Sally Annis (who is from Nashua) and Mary Zider (also NEBC) got away and stayed away while the rest of the field, powered by the few not on the NEBC squad, caught the rest of the break. Annis and Zider built a lead of over 20 seconds while closing in on the finish and the gap only got bigger in the final laps as the riders on the other teams decided to quit the chase and save something for the sprint. Annis and Zider crossed the line together while completing a quick index-finger-touch salute (like ET and Elliot) with Sally (the hometown rider) slightly ahead for the win. The field sprint was taken by the Sunapee team duo of Eve McNeil and Samantha Newman with another six places in the money right behind them. You won’t often see a race with 10 paying places for a 16 man or woman field. The 16 riders raced for a $500 prize list and merchandise primes with a total value of almost $1500. Thanks to race promoter Ron Bingham for providing prize list parity for the ladies, but if a few more don’t make it to the race next year, it might be hard to continue that way.
The host club, BOB, was well represented in the Masters35+ race with 7 riders on the start line. The field limit of 75 was almost reached ensuring a barn burner of a race with lots of horsepower to burn for 45 minutes plus 5 laps. And if the presence of some of the best bike racers in New England wasn’t enough, there were once again lots of merchandise primes to keep things moving briskly. The announcer (me) and Primemaster Bill Dempster found some unique ways to give away the goods. They decided to make some of the primes two lap “races within the race” instead of the customary 1 lap affair. That means that the riders were given a 1 lap warning before the bell was rung for the actual prime lap. That provided a little more time for strategies to develop and at the half way prime, it led to a group of 5 going up the road to contest the prime. But with just 3 laps to go, Bill Yarbrody (NBX/Narragansett Beer) was the only one still away. He tried to hold on for the solo victory but his escape ended within site of the line when he got swarmed by the field which was working up to full speed for the sprint. At the front of the field, Paul Richard (CCB), Mike Norton (Cyclonauts) and Gary Steinberg of Cnetury Road Club charged to the front of the sprint. Norton was in the middle and seemed to get squished from both sides as the three fought elbow to elbow down the center of the road toward the finish line. Norton had to hold back for a pedal stroke or two and lost a little ground to the others. Steinberg took the sprint while Norton made his way through the roadblock to claim second. As riders crossed the line, several were yelling the same race number to the attention of the officials and when it was over a protest against Paul Richard was made and upheld after several riders corroborated the same story about him sweeping riders to the outside going through the final corner. He was relegated from 3rd to 11th place (one place out of the money) for dangerous riding. That change put Sam Morse (Corner Cycle), Nate's father, into third place. Yarbrody, the last of the foxes to be caught, ended up in 15th place but deserves credit for giving it a go solo.
The Pro1/2/3 race also started with a near full field of almost 75 riders. A break of 7 got away a few laps in and developed a lead of up to 30 seconds by the halfway prime which included a pair of wheels for first prize. Chase groups formed and got re-caught as the field tried to figure out who was going to chase the lead group. The 7 riders away saw their lead chipped down to a low of 14 seconds and it looked like the foxes would be caught by the hounds. The foxes included Alec Donohue (NERAC), Jason Beerman and Eric Tremble (both Kenda/Raleigh), Tim Unkhert (Stolen Underground), Josh Dillon (Fiordifrutta), Todd Yezefski (Fitness Together) and J Allain Ferry (Met Life). But either the hounds lost interest or the foxes decided their best hope was to work a little harder and stay away. With 3 laps to go (2.3 miles) the field finally gave up the chase and settled in for the sprint for the remaining 8 places. With two men in the break, we expected to see the Kenda guys use their advantage and either send one up the road in a solo effort or, or if neither guy was up for the solo effort, set up a lead out for the sprint. Instead, they followed the wheels and Eric Tremble took a very respectable second place behind race winner Todd Yezefski. When asked about the strategy after the race, Tremble admitted that they should probably have tried to work their advantage more effectively. He even said that he heard the announcer (me) describing the possible strategies over the PA system and thought “yeah, that would be a good idea, we should try that: but we didn’t do it”.
Randon thoughts:
The Gate City Cyclone was the first race I have ever seen use a Vespa scooter as a pace vehicle. It did just fine and probably saved 2 or 3 gallons of gas compared to the typical sports car pace vehicle. This makes too much sense. Can we do it this way a little more often and "green" the sport a little?
Dick Ring, “the Voice of New England Bicycle Racing”, was on hand to receive the Gate City Cyclone’s Humanitarian Award for all he has done for the sport of bike racing. The award was presented to Mr. Ring in front of the Pro1/2/3 field. Many of the riders remember hearing Dick at races all across New England but it has been long enough now since Dick last traveled the race circuit that quite a few riders on the line had never heard him announce a race. They got their chance as Dick remained on stage and grabbed a microphone to help me call the featured men's race of the day. Despite having been retired for 6 or 7 years now, he has not lost a step. We didn't get any of the classic lines out of him ("Lord love a duck", "groove in on that one", etc.) but he kept the talk going throughout the entire race. It was exhausting keeping up with him as we tag teamed the dialogue for over an hour TdF style. I was spent by the end of the race, but Dick sounded like he could have carried on for a couple more hours. But, the racing for the day was over and it was time to pack up and head home. I hope I get a chance to work with Dick Ring again soon, I’ll always have an extra microphone ready for him. If you have never heard him call a race, or if you have and you miss the Voice of New England Bike Racing, stop by the New England Velodrome in Londonderry, New Hampshire (www.nevelodrome.com).
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