Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prix — Cat. 4

by John Naegle

Everybody was nervous about turns 3 and 4 (a narrow left-right combo
about 300 meters after the start). We lined up 20 wide and 5 deep on
a road that would only support 6-8 wide after 50 meters and then 2-3
through the left-right combo. I started in the front row and jumped
hard to take the hole shot and stay out of trouble. Ended up second
and able to go through without braking on the first lap. For the next
4 or 5 laps, I settled into a good rhythm and stayed top 15 for the
rest of the race. I ended up going a little over threshold each time
up the hill, but wasn't losing places unless people were punching it
hard, in which case I either cornered better or used my greater mass on
the downhills to move back up. With 3 to go Collin Huston from
CLNoonan put in the only real attack of the race. He dangled 10-15
seconds off the front for 1/2 a lap. I bridged across to him on the
downhill (proving that breaks were doomed in hindsight) and traded
pulls with him for a little bit. We were pretty quickly absorbed,
but at least it felt like a bike race — so many races go by without
any attacks. Toby was looking really strong the whole race, so I
decided to try and lead him out if I could get into good position.
Lost a few positions the last time up the hill. Toby was probably top
6 at this point and I was around 15th. Somebody in a Caisse d'Epargne
jersey ended up leading the group through the last corner… He ended
up braking really hard and dangerously slowing the whole group down.
After the last corner it was slightly uphill for 50 meters than about
a 1km downhill to the finish. Somebody took a flier and almost held
it to the end (he took second). It was basically impossible to move
up on the downhill so I couldn't do much to help Toby. I sat right on
the yellow line until we had the whole lane then jumped (at 40+ mph, I
don't think it was much of a jump) but was able to move up from around
15th to 7th. Somebody drifted into me during the sprint and we
almost locked handlebars, but neither of us panicked and we held it
upright. Toby ended up 4th and I was 7th.


by Eric Martin

My first lap I was mid pack sitting in and getting the feel for what was a
sketchy set of initial turns due to some bad bike handlers near my flanks.
At first, I didn't go for the hole shot even though I had good position b/c
I still felt wonky from the Thai food of the prior evening and the
subsequent dehydration I felt at the start. Still, it felt good to be at the
races and confident I could regain my early season form. At about lap two,
something felt funny. My right felt funny and my pedal efforts did not
translate the usual accelerations/power that I can generate and had
difficulty hanging on. I literally was spit out from around 20th to off the
back on the top of the a climb that usually suits my style of riding.
Finally, after my third time into the chicane while leading a chase group of
maybe 5, my pedal shot off of both my pedal spindle and then my cleat. I
looked for the hay bales and/or a soft landing but managed to stay up
and slow to a stop.

From that point on, my race was over as I pedaled with one leg with my tail
between my legs over to Eager, Silva, et al. I am lucky that I didn't go
down, and I felt shaky for at least 30' afterwards. I suspect, and in
retrospect, that the failure occurred on the downhill where we were going
~40 mph, and that my cleat was sliding along the spindle into the first
series turns.

Yes, these are the recalled Time pedals, and yes, they have failed once before
on a very fast descent. I did add Loctite to the threads following my 1st
failure, but this was not enough.

I can no longer recommend Time pedals to others.

Results on VelocityResults.net

Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prix — Cat. 3

Synopsis: 2nd place, thanks to a strong team effort

This race was a new race on the New England circuit, and part of New England Race Week, which culminates in the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic. The course was a short (~2.6 mile) circuit, which featured the renowned (thanks to the Boston Marathon) Heartbreak Hill, and a fast, downhill finish in Newton Center.

QuadCycles entered 5 people in the 10-lap category 3 race: Glenn Ferreira, Jeremy Jo, Matthew Miller, Eric Silva, and myself. There were over 70 starters, with many fast riders eying a good result before Fitchburg started on Thursday. However, in our pre-race discussions, we liked our chances, as the finish suited our strengths, and we had a well-practiced lead-out train.

The first few laps were pretty intense, especially going up Heartbreak Hill. There were several attacks up the hill, on the descent, and up the slight rise after the start-finish. However, it became pretty clear that an attack up the hill would have to be quite substantial to stick, as the downhill required a sustained effort to maintain speed, and the pack had no problem swallowing those who took flyers before we reached the start-finish.

I had set a goal before the race to not make any foolish attacks, or work too hard to bridge to any breaks—I'm prone to get excited since I'm coming into form—because I didn't think they would stick, and I'd have my best shot in a bunch sprint. I didn't meet this goal—at two points, I was off the front for no real reason—but I did well to not try to bridge up to the myriad attacks.

The middle laps were a little more subdued on the hill, and I was able to ride in the first 10-15 riders the whole time. The pace was high on the downhill, but I was able to always be on a wheel.

Cutting to the last time up the hill, the pace was high, but not unmanageable. I was sitting in the middle of the pack, on the right-hand side, when Glenn and Jeremy passed me; I knew it was time to get in finishing position. I hopped on their wheel, Glenn towed us up the side of the field, and we were able to move up to 10th wheel when we took the final turn onto Beacon St.

A small gap opened, but Glenn shifted into his 53×11 and closed it. About 600m from the finish, Jeremy came around Glenn, and towed me up to 4th or 5th wheel. I hopped off Jeremy's wheel, up to third. The field (apparently) was pretty strung out, but I was concerned about the field swarming us, so I sat third for just a little bit, and then jumped 300m from the line. I spun out my 53×12 at 130rpm, and had about a bike length lead for all but the last 50 meters or so. Paul Curly, Master-extraordinaire, came around me, but I was able to hold off Eric Edlund from MIT for 3rd.

The clear lesson from the race is that teamwork pays off. No other team was organized in the last 5 minutes the way QuadCycles was. We had an effective three-rider train up the side of the pack to the front. It was so good, in fact, that I was worried another team would see what was up, catch my wheel, and steal the show.

When we got to the front, no other team had people working together for a result. I wouldn't have been in the right position and well-rested without Glenn and Jeremy setting me up. Our result today was truly a team effort, that one of us alone couldn't have achieved.

Results on VelocityResults.net

Myles Standish State Park Road Race — Cat 4

by Ian Sutton

What was supposed to be a cool and overcast day transformed itself to perfect cycling weather with temperatures in the low seventies and abundant sunshine. This coupled with a very civilized start time (Men's 4 at 11:50AM) sweetened the pot even further.

With such a short race of only 20 miles (32km) we knew it would be fast from the gun without the usual chit-chat that seems to make the first few k's go by faster. With Ken Han, John Naegle, Eric Martin and I representing Quad for our field we formulated a simple plan of shutting down any breakaways and trying to set it up for a sprint finish.

Right out of the gate we tore off up the first hill past the start/finish and down hill into a sharp, sandy right turn which would make quite the nightmare if you weren't the first few wheels through the corner having to brake hard and then chase up the next hill. Almost immediately, one kid rolled off the front and after a quick chat John and Eric went up to cover the move and after a moment I found myself up there as well. I guess the first Jens Voigt of the day didn't want a Quad sandwich for lunch and he sat up immediately and went back the field to think about what he had done. Wanting to stretch the legs and help drive the early pace, I kept it rolling at around 25mph (40kph) while John and Eric slowly sat up and went back to the field to try and slow them down. With such a short race and a rolling course, I didn't have the strength nor the intention of trying to TT my way to the finish but simply to keep the pace up and maybe if we were lucky, force a selection and split the field up (This seemed to happen in all the finishes we watched previously). After just under a lap of this pace I was swallowed up by the field and spent the next ten minutes recovering about ten or twelve guys from the front. The benefit of being off the front on this course was being able to apex every corner as well as picking your line over the pothole riddled course. Of course the downside is that you're taking all the wind and trying to pace yourself so that you're not going flat out but just tickling your red zone - something I still need to work on.

The next lap went by without too much excitement and of course positioning was key to staying near the front and by lap three, you could really feel an uneasy, nervous energy throughout the field while a few sketchy moves by other riders in the field forced me back a little further than I would like and it took some work to get myself safely back up to the front. It was not uncommon to be on the side of the ride trying to keep it upright in the fallen pine needles etc. (Cyclocross skills pay off here). At this time another attempt at a solo breakaway happened and the lack of organization from other teams compounded with what seemed like a lack of knowing how to paceline made this move especially nervous and frustrating. By now Eric is driving at the front setting tempo to keep the breakaway attempt in sight and get him back to the field before our next Jens Voigt gets too much of a gap and sticks the move. Eric signals the next rider through to take his pull and he declined touting that it was someone else's responsibility to do the work. Sensing Eric's frustration and my thin patience I opted to burn through a few matches and just drilled it up the right side of the road, dragging the field right up the breakaway up one of the few hills on the course. After going full gas for about 30 seconds, I went into the red and needed to head to the shelter of the field to recover but had successfully put John and Eric near the front. In hindsight it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, energy wise, but sometimes the quick and dirty is the way to git 'r done. Coming through the turns to the start finish the field seemed to be soft pedaling, perhaps gassed from all the accelerations that had been happening since we rolled out of the parking lot 40 minutes before.

On the fourth and final lap, the nervous energy was at an all time high while people who have been sitting on are trying to get near the front for their shot at victory while the group already at the front were trying to keep the pace high and then it finally happened. The sound of carbon hitting the ground. What sounded like a pretty big pileup happened near the back likely due to a touch of wheels and some sketchy group riding, of which there was plenty to go around. I conducted a quick headcount to make sure none of our guys went down but didn't see Ken (dramatic pause…). Thankfully he was in front of the crash just behind me but unfortunately he eventually had to abandon with a loose headset - not the type of mechanical you can live with on this course, not with the condition of the road surface.

With about 2km to go I was fourth wheel hoping that the three guys in front of me were willing to keep the pace high and take turns pulling. Of course this would provide a safer finish and discourage attacks from the field. Unfortunately the lead wheel wouldn't pull off and his pace consistently slowed into the final km. By now we've been swallowed up by the field and I was unable to find a hole to get back up to the front when magically what seemed like the entirety of the field folds over to the left side of the road and I promptly thanked Charlton Heston for the timely move. With the whole right side of the road open I upshifted a few gears and took off up the side of the road. Sadly, I was caught almost immediately but not to worry, John and Eric were near the front of the field where they would hopefully be able to organize themselves into a sprint. We head into the slight downhill right before the uphill finish and things started getting very dicey. Some riders punch drunk, others just appear crazy, thinking they can still win from 50 spots back start sprinting it out for 30th place. I just sat up and let them all fight it out for the finish. John slotted in 9th place, a fantastic result on top of his brilliant 4th place, just off the podium at Saturday's Ninigret criterium while Eric finished in the top 20 and I was about 25 guys back.

Overall it was a great early season race and it was apparent that Quad was one of the only teams that was able to ride as a team and execute a plan to the best of our ability. With that in mind, it's not hard to notice our results are becoming more consistent and I am confident that they will only get better as the season progresses. Very nice work everyone!


Results on BikeReg.com

Tour of the Battenkill Race Report — Cat. 3

by Christian Eager

Saturday, April 19, saw high temperatures one-degree off the all-time record (82°) in Salem, NY. Three members of QuadCycles made the trip for the early-season epic, the Tour of the Battenkill (née Battenkill-Roubaix).

Eric Silva and I did the category 3 race, which started at 11:30 a.m. Toby Phillpotts did the Masters 30+, which started 10 minutes later.

The Category 3 field was nearly full with 96 starters. While Eric and I knew that we probably were not going to place very highly, we were looking forward to the race, which had a reputation for being difficult, rewarding, and one-of-a-kind.

All three of those ended up being true. The most difficult parts of the race were the three main un-pavé (a.k.a. dirt road) sections, as not only were they unpaved, but the majority of the climbs, and certainly the steepest climbs, were all during these sections.

The group stayed together, and the race was not too difficult until the first of the off-road sections, on Juniper Swamp Road, about 10 miles in. The final climb of that section, before a long, fast descent, was .35 miles with an average grade of 9.4%. The majority of the dirt section was well-packed, but the last 100 meters or so was quite loose, and many people ended up needing to dismount and run to the top. I was one of these unlucky folks, and even though I managed a decent cyclocross-style remount, the group was well down the descent by the time I crested.

Thus began the middle section of my race, the group chase. A group of about 6 riders, including myself, Eric, and Jeremy Dunn of Cambridge Bicycle, collected at the bottom of the descent and began a smooth, rotating, paceline for the next 10 miles or so. We caught a few riders who joined us, and by the end we had about 10 people working together trying to chase back on to the group. It wasn’t meant to be, though as we didn’t catch them before the next set of unpaved climbs, which in turn shattered our group.

During the second or third climb of 5 in this middle un-pavé our group had dwindled to 6, and Eric and I were lagging behind the lead 4. After cresting this climb, we tucked in for the fast, negative-5%-grade descent. Just before descent ended, I heard a BANG, and looked behind me to find Eric had gotten a flat. Luckily, we had just passed the second of two support vans for our race, so he was able to get a wheel change without waiting for too long. I pressed on, unsure of how long the wheel swap would take, and still hoping the group would re-coalesce after the dirt section ended.

It didn’t. Or, at least, I wasn’t a part of it. In fact, for the rest of the race I never was able to work with another Cat. 3, and only saw another 3 or 4 people from my race. The 13 miles to the next dirt section were relatively uneventful. I passed several riders in other races, and ran out of water around mile 42. Luckily, this was just before a neutral feed zone (thank you, Greenwich!), where I was able to get a bottle of water to tide me over ‘til the end.

Just before the final dirt section, on Ferguson Road, I was caught by the Masters 30+ field. This wouldn’t have been a big deal, but for two things. Firstly, and frustratingly, there were a few Cat. 3 riders mixed in with the group. Although before every road race, competitors are warned not to work with other groups, it seems that inevitably a few people mix in with subsequent fields when they’ve been dropped. “What’s the big deal? I’m so far back,” they’re probably thinking. Well, it’s a little annoying to have worked for 10 miles by yourself, only to have people you dropped an hour ago ride by on the coattails of another group. You’re not helping them, but they’re certainly helping you.

The second thing was that it meant I was entering the section shortly after the field and their follow cars. The third dirt section was much dustier (mostly unpacked, and between ¼- and ½-inch of loose dirt) than the previous two sections. In fact, visibility at the beginning of the section less than 25 meters there was so much dust. A couple of people passed me on this section; the loose dirt proved to me more challenging for me than it was for them.

On the published course profile, the last climb, about half of which is dirt, looks steep and, well, mountainous. In reality, it’s a long, steady, shallow climb, about 3% for 2.5 miles;the first 1.75 miles is dirt. After the crest is a long, fast descent, and then it’s mostly flat and about 4 miles to the finish. I had one Cat. 3 pass me on this stretch, the last of only four to do so legitimately after our chase group shattered around mile 30.

I was quite pleased to cross the finish line at 2:46:11, in 63rd place. I knew Battenkill-Roubaix was not my race from the beginning. However, I’m glad to have done it and gotten to see a

Congratulations to Toby and Eric for finishing, too, 20th and 76th in their respective races.

Results on BikeReg.com

Rick Newhouse Memorial Criterium — Cat. 4

QuadCycles’ First Win of 2008

by John Buchheit and John Naegle

Under sunny skies on the coast of Rhode Island, the Category 4 men made another impressive showing at the Rick Newhouse Memorial Ninigret Criterium. Nessim Mazrahi took the win and John Naegle placed fourth. John Buchheit finished with the pack. Here’s the way it unfolded:

The race was a timed race. It was advertised as 55 minutes, but ended up being closer to 45 minutes. It began at noon. The course was a dead-flat 7 corner course built on an old airstrip with a right-to-left cross wind on the finishing stretch. The wind direction meant a headwind coming into the last corner of the race. We arrived at 10:30 am and had a quick team meeting. Everyone was relaxed. We decided that because the course was windy and open (the pack can almost always see any breakaway), the race would be decided by a field sprint. As John N felt good, Nessim felt tired from training and John B had yet to race this season, we decided to lead John N out for the field sprint. We decided Nessim would take the first leg of the lead-out and John B the second. John B wanted to see what he had for a sprint and told his ‘mates he’d compete for an early prime. Nessim offered a lead out.

After a good thirty-five minute warm-up and some stretching, we met on the course and discussed the details of the lead-outs (where each lead-out should begin and end, which side of the track would be best for sprinting and which way the lead-out riders would pull off). We felt confident at the line.

After a few laps, a rider from the Blue Hill Cycling Club attacked and with the help of a teammate stayed out for three or four laps. His one teammate in the race moved to the front of the pack to block and chase down anyone trying to bridge to his teammate. The attacker never got far enough out to make the pack uncomfortable. In fact, the pack seemed to understand that this tactic was making two riders put forth a lot of effort with little chance of success. The single attacker, on a windy course and in full view of the pack, was not going to stay away for 30 minutes and his teammate was working hard reeling people in (when his teammate would probably have been better off if he had been joined by some other riders). The breakaway failed as the rider seemed to just wear out.

The first prime was the called and Nessim checked in with John B. They agreed to try and take it. Nessim provided a strong lead-out and soon he, John B. and another rider on John’s wheel were in front of the pack. However, John B was having trouble holding Nessim’s wheel and Nessim opened up a gap. John B., realizing he did not have much in the tank, directed Nessim to try to take the prime. John thought that even if he could come around Nessim, his efforts would only bring the rider behind him in for the win. The rider on John B’s wheel did come around him and looked like he might take it, but Nessim accelerated before the line and beat him. After this event, John B told Nessim and John N that the order of the lead out should be changed so that Nessim gave the final lead out. It was clear that today Nessim would provide the stronger lead out.

Soon thereafter a couple of riders attacked to create a three man breakaway. After a few laps, a fourth rider bridged and for a while they looked strong, building up perhaps a fifteen second lead on the field. The Quad riders remained in the shelter of the pack, riding conservatively. The break’s advantage decreased to around 6 seconds, but it was getting close to the finish and John N. and Nessim agreed that the break posed a threat, enough so that Nessim went ahead to either break up the rhythm of the group, or, in the alternative, allow the break to pull him to the finish. Nessim quickly bridged and when it became his turn to pull, he just soft pedaled. One of the riders in the break told him that if he was going to be part of the break, he had to work, at which point Nessim delivered the bad news: he was not there to help. This seemed to demoralize the break and it soon fell apart.

Before we knew there were two laps to go. John N. and Nessim were in good position, in the front third of the pack. John B. was not, but began moving up to see if he might be able to start the lead out as planned. Approximately five hundred meters before the finish, before the second to last corner, John B. pulled up alongside Nessim and John N., put did not have the energy to contribute. Nessim accelerated through this corner, slipping between two riders, and opened up a gap on the field. John N. lost Nessim’s wheel when Nessim made the move. Nessim continued to open up this gap coming around the second corner and was able to hold it all the way to the finish. John N. took the inside line sheltered from the wind by two riders to his right sprinted for fourth. John B. was in decent position, but after making his way to the front in the final lap, had nothing for the sprint, and was passed by many riders coming down the final stretch (I felt like I was going backwards).

Another great result for the team!

Results on BikeReg.com

Tufts Criterium Race Report — Cat. 3/4

by Christian Eager

Synopsis: 2nd place

I hadn’t planned on making the Tufts Crit only my second race of the season. However, no matter how many races I wish I’d done, I couldn’t have hoped for a much better result. The weather threatened until the very start of the race (we actually had some showers pass through the area around 12:30), but the course was dry, with overcast skies and temperatures in the low 50’s when the race started. There were about 20 starters, four from QuadCycles—myself, Eric Silva, Toby Phillpotts, and newcomer Jeremy Jo, a graduating senior from Tufts.

The race started briskly, as usual; you don’t want to be near the back the first time through turn 2. You can’t be sure who will negotiate it well the first time, and who will take a dive into the wall of hay bales.

Luckily, the group was small, and relatively experienced to boot, so the race was pretty smooth. In fact, I can only recall one crash, involving our own Jeremy Jo, which happened on the long straightaway between turns 6 and 1.

All in all, our team worked well together. We launched multiple attacks, trying to wear down the people we marked as dangerous before the race. Eric attacked about a third of the way through, and one of our marked riders chased him down. Toby and Jeremy took turns riding second wheel, keeping their eye on the group while keeping themselves out of the wind.

During the third quarter of the race, I was feeling a little antsy, so I put in small attacks on several laps, usually so that I could take turns 2-4 by myself, since there were a couple of competitors who weren’t as skilled cornering, and I could maintain a gap without expending as much effort.

With about 10 laps to go, I tried to create a gap with a rider from MIT, who had won the collegiate B race earlier in the day. He clearly had the talents of a time trialist, as he took several strong pulls, but we weren’t able to make a gap stick. This move did split the group, with a lead group of 8 forming for the final 5 laps.

As the bell rang with one lap to go, I was in good position, second wheel. Because I didn’t have much of a problem riding at the front during the first 29 laps, I was confident that I’d be able to pick my position for the final lap. Coming out the final turn, however, I was a little further back then I would liked, in fourth. The eventual race winner, Steven Gauthier, was second wheel, and when the lead rider jumped with about 200m to go, he was on it. I was too far back to ever reach Steven’s wheel, but I maintained the gap through the finish. If I’d been on his wheel, I’d like to think I could have passed him, in spite of his well-known tenacity in the sprint. In retrospect, I should have known his was the wheel to be on if it came down to a sprint, as I raced against him many times at New England Velodrome last summer.

Still, I’m very pleased with second place. My thanks to Eric, Toby, and Jeremy for working for me in the race. The plan from the beginning was to set me up with a lead-out, if possible, and, in any case, to wear down the competition with multiple attacks, and covering any attacks key riders made during the race, which they did admirably.

Results on BikeReg.com

Below is a video of the finish, taken by my brother. You can’t see the final move, but you can see the result.

Spring?

It was 60° today in Boston—is spring finally here? I think we're all ready to ride in shorts again. Even the QuadCycles member in this photo.

Cyclonauts Road Race (4/5): Someone call a Doctor, QuadCycles is putting on a clinic!

by Ian Sutton

When you roll up to the line in a Cat 4 event with 8 guys on your team it makes all the other teams wonder what the hell is going on. This Saturday, QuadCycles put on a display for the people and we launched attack after attack after attack and simply wore the field down.

We rode the first 10k at a pretty casual warm up pace and everyone was chatting and hanging out enjoying the early morning cool as the low clouds burned off with the ascending sun. Eventually someone decided to try their luck with an attack and it forced the whole field to stretch their legs a bit. With the whole Quad team riding the front 3rd of the peloton, any of these initial moves were brought back within a few minutes and were typically followed by a counter attack on our behalf which would prove to frustrate the entire peloton over the next two hours.

At about kilometer 50 we happened upon one of two level crossings that were mentioned at the race start, but what we did not plan on was actually having to stop for a train. From about 300 meters out, we could see the "ding dings" come on and unfortunately we all had to stop to let the train pass; the slow moving, half mile long freight train. For a minute, the train's engineer looked at the peloton as we barreled towards the crossing and you could tell that just for a minute, he thought "are they going to try and beat me across the tracks?". Unfortunately, one lone, lucky attacker had beat the train to the crossing by about 45 seconds and he would ultimately take the victory. How Paris-Roubaix circa 2006. While we waited for the train to pass, several people used the time to take a natural break. About five minutes later, the racing - now ultimately for 2nd place resumed. A few chases to catch the lone leader tried to formulate, but some nervous riders were simply trying to ramp up the speed sprint style and really just created a disorganized cluster off the front for about 15 seconds at a time.

The race settled back into a nice, fast rhythm for the next 15 or 20km and then we hit the climb. I made sure to be right up at the front at the start of this climb as its length would surely force a selection by the summit and it was so. The whole peloton came to the climb together, but only about 20 or 30 of us were left by the time we hit the summit. The selection was made and this group settled in for the remainder of the race.

The tempo was pretty tame after the climb, save a few easy rollers everyone had plenty of time to top off their fluids and to eat a bit. I believe 5 Quad riders including myself made the selection and again, we started attacking, testing everyone's legs as they tried to flush out the pools of lactic acid that filled up during the climb.

Quad attacked right up to the final climb, which we had ascended earlier to create the initial selection, only this time we were (thankfully) only going about halfway to the top. I did my best to keep tempo on the climb but really had to dig deep into the proverbial "suitcase of courage" to get up the hill without being dropped. As of this writing, the official results have not been posted on bikereg.com but I'm fairly certain that all of us who made the split, finished within the top 20 with our best placing being Glenn F with a fantastic 6th place.

While a podium finish certainly would have been better, QuadCycles went out to this race to kick ass and take names and that we did. As a team we were very active and very aggressive in the race and made it hard for any other teams to follow us. From the gun every Quad rider had a smile on his face and really made it an enjoyable morning for the whole team. We were the buzz of the peloton and there were even some inquiries into joining the team. Bike racing really is a team sport and today we made it oh so apparent.

The course was great, it had a little bit of everything, the weather was perfect, there were no crashes to speak of and everyone raced with class.

Results on BikeReg.com

QuadCycles scores a win at the Cyclonauts Criterium in Stafford, CT

by Eric Silva

Through a well executed team strategy, QuadCycles scored another win at the Cyclonauts Criterium on Memorial Day. In the race was John Buchheit, Michael McKittrick, Ken Han, and me.

Photo by Tom Hoogendyk

The Plan

The Cyclonauts Criterium takes place partially on a large oval track that typically hosts auto racing. This section includes the finish line and about 600 m of the short 800 m course. There are no buildings, trees, etc. to block the view of the track. If you can't get out of sight, you can't get out of mind. It is very wide, flat, and fast. Because of these features of the course, we believed a field sprint to be likely.

I was the designated sprinter. Michael, Ken, and John were to cover breakaways and attack the group to wear down other teams. I was to ride efficiently, not attack at all, and conserve energy for the sprint. I was to stay out of breakaways unless they looked very dangerous.

During warm up laps, John was designated as the leadout man. We took a couple of laps and determined a landmark from which to start the leadout, approximately 600 m from the finish line.

How It Unfolded

I got the hole shot into the first corner, and led through the second corner and then the third. Other riders finally came around and eventually the pace picked up. One particular team seemed to be pushing the pace quite a bit, but not attacking. They were consuming a lot of energy taking long, fast pulls while the QuadCycles riders (and other smart teams) were conserving energy in the draft. They were keeping the pace at around 30 mph for long stretches during the first half of the race. This was not a very good technique for them, for it only wore them out while other teams were able to sit in.

Hats off to Michael McKittrick for attacking so hard and so frequently. In the second half of the race, Michael attacked a number of times, forcing the other teams to chase him down. This allowed the John and me to sit in their draft as they worked hard to bring Michael back.

The Finale

With just over two laps (1600 m) to go, Dan Oulette of Gamache Cyclery placed a bet. He went solo, hard and fast. His attack was very good. He accelerated from 10-15 positions back so as he passed the lead rider in the group, he was already traveling much faster. He quickly created a large gap. Because the finish was minutes away, people were reluctant to chase.

The bell rang for the last lap and John Buchheit and Michael McKittrick were in exactly the right places: near the very front. When I came up on John's wheel, I let him know and told him to hit it as hard as he could. This was just as we passed the agreed upon landmark to start the lead out. John took a pull as hard as he could and accelerated me up to speed. We overtook the soloist with about 200 m to go. John pulled off with 150 m to the finish line, but we were still slightly behind the Essex County Velo and Cyclonauts lead out. I overtook them and crossed the line in 1st place with places 2nd through 4th less than a bike length behind.

Great teamwork everybody.

Sterling Road Race Cat 4 Race Report

by Ian Sutton

Saturday morning was the Sterling Classic Road Race in well... Sterling, MA. I drove out to the race with Mike M and we almost didn't quite make the race on time due to Google Maps' fantastic directions and the well marked toll lanes on the Mass Pike (see: Sarcasm). I drove through the Fastlane which is no problem, should you have a transponder, but much like a roller coaster, they'll send me a nice picture of Mike and I in the car breakin' the law. Fear not, we did make it to the race with plenty of time to spare.

The registration area was pretty crowded which hasn't been typical for the early morning starts thus far this season. We grabbed our numbers and our free water bottle (woot woot!)and I got in line for the bathroom. Much to my chagrin, there was only one stall and one bathroom which complicated matters for all the racers looking to unhitch some extra weight before the race.

After an abbreviated Cro-Mags based warmup and some bike moshing on the trainers we got a little antsy as the parking lot was emptying quicker than if they were giving out free EPO injections at the staging area. I see Mike over in staging so I assume we're lined up with the correct group of riders (see: never assume). They start their 2 mile neutral roll out through the town center (how Tour De France) and thankfully about 10 meters into the rollout someone noticed that I had a different set of numbers on my jersey and that frankly, I look just a bit young to be riding in the masters category so I sheepishly bail out and head back to the correct group. Mike was not so lucky, he did the entire neutral roll out and possibly some racing before realizing he was in the wrong field and just as the Cat 4's rolled out, about a half mile down the road, he comes time trialing back at us on the other side of the road and rejoined the correct field. For Quad representation it was myself, Mike M and Glenn with no real formal team plan for today other than ride smart and at the front and keep our eyes on anything that tries to go away and to attack if we're feeling strong toward the finale.

The first few laps we fairly uneventful with the exception of a minor crash going into the decisive hill at the end of the first lap. The field made a hard right turn on to the climb just before the start/finish and a few people on the inside fell victim to this low speed debacle. Otherwise, no one was really jostling too hard for position and I used this time to get a feel for who was strong, who was sketchy and to check out the course. Virtually the whole right side of the course was chopped up though well marked with spray paint but with the yellow line rule there were times when it was hard to avoid it and at faster points in the race a few people rolled off into the side of the road and were forced to chase to rejoin the group.

Each of the 5 times over the climb I was in the front third of the field and seemed to gain position on the weaker climbers. This also held true for Glenn and Mike although Mike was caught out with a couple anomalous mechanical issues but he was able to catch back on the whole time, even using the SRAM neutral car to make it back to the field without wasting too much energy.

On the 4th lap there was a break of two that had been away for a while and the field collectively decided we've had enough of their tomfoolery decided to maker a concerted effort to chase it down. There was a pretty good train going at the front and Mike and I rode up to do our part in bringing the break back and to help control the race from the front. After only one pull, someone whose team slips my mind failed to pull through and let a gap open up which made no sense, he had no one in the break to block for and when Mike read him the riot act about it his response was "it's hard". The field did end up catching the break on the last lap and I was caught in a lot of fighting for position up at the front for the last 3 miles or so before the climb. The pace was pretty high and everyone was fighting for wheels and fighting for abetter spot in the bunch. When we made the turn into the hill all hell broke loose and everyone dug deep for their best result.

For me this last time up the climb was a little too much and I ended up losing ground coming in with the bunch 2 seconds down on the winner. Both Glenn and Mike finished in the bunch a little further ahead than myself and all and all we put in a solid effort.

There was free pizza back at registration which was a little odd at 10:30 in the morning, but delicious no less.

2006 Palmer

by Josh Preneta

Great course! The 4/5B race had 4 Quad guys in it - Chris F, Geoff B, Paul F, and myself. (Hope I got the names right). Phil raced in the A race.

Most of the ride was straightforward/easy. Some gentle rollers, a good 3 or 4 mile gentle decline, and a sprint finish on a slight incline. The B group started about 2 minutes after the A group, and we quickly cuaght them on the first of 2 laps. Geoff, Chris and I were mixing it up towards the front of the pack. There was one strong fellow that did 90% of the work for the rest of the field - I think he is the one person that made the race fun. I was coming off of some silly sickness that had me laid up in bed on Friday/Saturday, so I just sat in and waited for a good old fashioned field sprint. When it came, I was boxed in behind some Landry's guys, but managed to get out to the right. I almost locked handlebars with a guy from Providence, but stayed upright and ended up in 6th place. Not bad.

Great course, great support, safe. I'll do this one every year.

Turtle Pond Circuit Race

by Brian Schwarzentruber

What a beautiful course.  It was very well organized and great roads.  The volunteers were amazing. The race officials are making it clear that littering will not be tolerated. They will stop the whole pack if necessary. It’s about time.  Communities have not allowed us to race in them for this very reason.  The race was amazing.  But for me, I broke the three major rules of racing.  I didn’t recover well from hard hill training the previous Thursday night, I only get about 3 hours sleep the night before, and I didn’t warm up well.  It came as no surprise that I was dancing with myself after the first and only hill, slight raise really in retrospect.  Even though my name never made it on the results page, I did the miles.  Brian Vickery decided he like the race so much, he did an extra lap. Good job Brian!  Rhys finished in fine style as always.  Nice. 

They could run that race three times a year, I’d do every one.  Now that’s New England Racing!

Marblehead P/1/2/3 Race Report

by Brian Vickery

The weather was perfect for my first race of the season. Lots of sunshine and no rain in the forecast.

Unlike last year I flatted on the warm up so this year I packed my trainer and warmed up in the parking lot.  After a good warm-up on the trainer I took down my shinny new bike (Cervelo R2.5) for its first race this year.  I did not get a chance to race the bike a lot last year b/c of a frame problem so I was excited to race it.

100 riders showed up at the start line.  The only other Quad rider was Rhys Gibson. We had 18 laps for a total of 37 miles of racing.  The first few laps were quick, but after 5 laps things settled down and real racing started. McCormack was in our field so he went off the front and was away for most of the race.  What surprised me was that the field was all back together with about 4 to go.  I felt good and was working my way up the field for the final sprint.  3 to go and I moved up 5 places.  2 to go, another 5 places.  On the final lap I was about 20 back (yeah to far for any podium but hell it was my first P/1/2/3 race and I felt pretty good breaking the top 20!).
 
During the last 4 laps the race officials were really trying to keep the double line rule in effect.  To be honest the officials were totally absent for the first 14 laps of the race when racers were all over the place (several riders were over the yellow line).

And you guessed it.  On the final lap about 1 mile to go the officials were really pushing the field back over the yellow line (to enforce the rule) and someone got boxed in. A touch of the bars and BANG (tire blow out) and 25 guys were on the pavement.  I was right in the middle of it.  I went down on my left side crashing into a pile of 6 bodies and bikes.  Once on the pavement people were crashing into me.  I jettisoned my bike and covered my head.  A few more guys plowed into me but I was the lucky one.

Some road rash and a very sore knee.  Other guys were taken away by the medics. My bike took most of the impact.  My shinny new Cervelo was not shinny any more.  My Easton fork snapped off.  Yes, snapped! If you are in the shop this week what’s left of my fork is there.  Rustem is getting replacement parts and should have it functional in a week.  I went back to the car patched myself up and went home.  :-(

For those of you keeping track I also crashed at Marblehead last year!  At least this year I was in the race until the last lap.  Last year I crashed in 1st lap.  Its now been three years since I finished Marblehead, but I have my 2006 crash out of the way (knock on wood).  Time for some real racing!
Rhys finished the race, keeping Quad on the map for the day.  Nice job Rhys. Out of 100 starters only 53 finished the race.

Keep the rubber side down and see you all at the races!  

Housatonic Hills RR - Cat 3

by Jonah Tower

After scoring a 2nd place finish here last year (cat 4), I really wanted to fins my way on to the podium again this year. I was feeling absolutely great and knew that I would have no trouble with the course, but the weather was just perfect (I was hoping for blazing hot) and thus the race was not hard enough to tear people apart. After the KOM on the second climb, the attacks began to get away and I (a bit over eager) started to get involved in many of the moves, before I had burned the matches I had for that sort of stuff, thinking that the rest of the race would keep up a strong pace. But, alas I didn't find the right move.

5 got away and the field really was not in a mood for chasing. Only a few were working (there were several big teams that could have), and not to long into the chase on the of the "big engines" flatted and the hunt all but ended. So, we're racing for 6th now and in no rush either. Then, with about 5 miles to go to the finish we were all sent single file through the grass to avoid a car accident that occurred on course, and of course it took another 2-3 miles before the field had come back together, because some folks thought that to be a good time to attack.... sprinters!

The finishing climb left far too many people still together (something like 20 made it to the top all together), and then the bad juju struck me. In taking a look back to see what was where, my wheel was crossed with the guy in front of me, and despite a long exchange of bumping and grinding I managed to keep the bike upright and the wheel in one piece; however, that was at 700m and I had had my rush of adrenaline about 500m too early. As the sprint picked up with 200m to go, I had nothing left and had to sit up finishing a disappointing 29th.

Cyclonauts RR — Cat 3/4

by Jonah Tower

For the most part the 56 mile race was just easy rolling hills, and then had a step-climb that hurt and provided a place for us to finish on the second go around. The hope was to find myself in a break, after the first time over the climbs (at about 30 miles) and then finish the race from there. The guys (Brian V., Chris A., Eric S., and Chris R.) were all going to keep an eye out at the front and do what they could.

About half way through the first lap, Chris A. got away in a little break of 3 guys, and i couldn't help but get excited and went to work blocking for him (probably shouldn't be out burning those matches). Then, just as we caught him, after a good 10-15 away, Chris went down on a oil slick not 6 inches in front of my wheel… somehow I didn't join him. But, after that close call I needed to regroup before the first pass on the climb. And, it was hard climbing… attack after attack all the way to the top, but then we didn't do anything with it. The field came back together and rode fast through the second lap.

Just before the turn onto the final climb I found Vickers, who then kept me out of trouble and got me around the corner in the top three… a good thing, because the first pile-up happened right there. Not much later someone rode into my rear wheel, and then a fight broke out behind me, which caused the second crash of the finishing CLIMB. With the last 500 m of climbing to go I was in a good spot, but then with about 200m to go someone fell on to my rear wheel (yet a 3rd crash), and slowed me down enough to bring me back to 9th place over all.

Rock & Road Race Weekend — Cat 3

by Jonah Tower

Saturday (CRIT): The course is a very short loop in "downtown Raymond, NH the curves and winds all over the place. We had 35 laps to accomplish and once again it was very hot. I had hoped to get involved in a break and had received some tips on who to watch, but there were 3-4 teams each with 3-4 riders that were all working pretty well and kept everything together (at least there was an actual field of nearly 30 to start.) Several of the laps included obstacles (some lady stopped her car a a stop sign, two fat women couldn't decide whether to cross or not, and some guy nearly lost his three pizzas as the field came bearing down on him. And, the pavement was actually melting at the bottom of the little hill, so it felt like you were riding on flats as you tried to make the turn. In the end the Sunapee team drove the field into a single file column, and I hadn't thought enough about my placement into the last laps, so I ended up with 9th place despite having the legs for more.

Sunday (RR): The course is a fun 10.(something)-mile loop with two solid, but not serious, climbs that then twists and rolls its way through Raymond, NH. There were some stretches where the pavement was just awful, but for the most part things were in pretty good shape. Again, hot (high 80s), humid (??%), and very hazy. But, only 12 riders showed up at the start line (I think several from the prior day went to race with the Master field). So, we rolled out and the college kids (I think the average age in the field was like 20) battled it out and did a nice job of tiring each other in the heat. On the 2nd lap (of 4) a small break formed with 4 riders, and I hesitated hoping the more of the remaining 8 would be able to work, but we lost some of the senior guys and the remaining "kids" all decided that it was too hot to work and they wanted their mommies. So, at the beginning of the third lap I attacked and got away with ease, and went to work chasing on my own for the last 20 miles of the race however, I had waited too long and figure I had nearly 1:00 to 1:30 to make up on the break. Despite my best efforts I never caught them, but I also don't think they were able to take any more time on me (marshals were all cooked or something, because no one would give me a decent split). I rode hard all the way to the finish and easily took 5th taking nearly 3 minutes from what was left of the field.

Lake Auburn RR — Cat 3

by Jonah Tower

It was very hot (85+) and we were rolling out at high noon, but I was still very much looking forward to the 5 laps on the hilly 11-mile course. The race itself was slow. Many attacks were allowed to go and were then left to cook a while, before being brought back, but in general the race didn't get going until the final lap, after several people had packed it in from tire legs and heat. On the final time up the steep climb right after the start, CCB attacked (I was thinking the same thing, but only another 500m up the road), and I was caught trying to chase. However, I was pulling the remains of the field in a long line with me, and since I had no teammates, I was not going to do this work for the field. (CCB managed to stay off and take first, because the field did not chase at all.) Then, on the last climb Louis Garneau put on a great attack and ripped the remainder of the field apart. About 7 of us gave chase for the last few miles, and just barely caught him at the line (he still managed 2nd). In the field sprint I took 5th (6th overall), but was not aware we had the whole road and thus had been needlessly hemmed in.

Mt. Sunapee Road Race — Cat 3/4 & Wells Crash :-(

by Brian Vickery

Mt. Sunapee ‘shined’ on us today.  I woke up on Saturday expecting almost anything.  In years past the weather at the Mt. Sunapee road race had been pretty bad.  This year was an overcast day but no rain, freezing rain, or snow (yeah it did snow on us one year).
I lined up for the Cat 3/4 46 mile road race with Shaun Landon and Chris Rehm.  The race itself is two laps with one hill of significance.  We deiced that for the first half of the first lap we let the field do its thing while we sat in the first 15 places.  Of course best laid pans do not last.  Shortly into the first lap a large group of riders went down cutting the field in half.  I was brushed by a falling rider but did not go gown.  Chris got caught up in the crash but was OK.  Shaun was right in front of me so he was good.  But in the confusion of falling bodies and bike parts about 20 guys were charging off the front.  I yelled up to Shaun to catch that group and I’d catch him. Thanks Shaun.  With Shaun’s help I bridged back up to the main field.  The rest of the race went OK.  Each time up the hill the field broke up but usually regrouped a mile or two down the road. For the final up hill finish I was lucky enough to still be in the main group.  Someone yelled out that the hill was long and there would be plenty of time to ‘sprint’ for the finish.  For some reason I let off the ‘gas’ (wrong move). That was the wrong thing to do because at that same moment 15 guys took off up the hill.  My lack of concentration lost me some places.  I felt good up the hill and reclaimed some of my places but I learned never to ‘back off’ on the finish.  In all a 28th place, a fine day of racing. 
 
As for Sunday I went to Wells Ave for some training miles and to help out.  Unfortunately on the final lap of the B race there was a massive pile up that I was in.  I went down very hard.  It took several minutes to get off the ground.  Dizzy and confused Chris Rehm came over to help out.  Big thanks to Chris that day as it would have been a hard ride home with out him. I never saw the entire crash but from what I can piece together a rider was leading a group off the front in a Tour de France or Giro sprint style train.  The lead rider when he was spent did not peal off enough AND he turned his head to see the main field.  As soon as he checked the main field position he drifted right back into the charging field.  I’d say about 15+ guys went down to of them had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance (broken elbow and brown collar bone).  I was very lucky.  If I was any closer to the front I’d be the guy with a broken elbow.
 
Keep the rubber side down!  BTW I need a new race kit…

Owasco SR — Cat 3

by Jonah Tower

After a solid week of training and feeling weel rested, I was looking forward to a good weekend of racing in Auburn, NY. We had a hotel in the middle of town and all three events were within 5 minutes of driving, so it was a very nice situation in a quiet corner of New York state. Friday evening we headed out to take a look at the 16-mile TT course, and then on the way back to the hotel registered for the weekend. Then, it was time for food and bed.

Saturday morning was a bit grey and a little on the cool side, but over all a fine day for the ITT. I drove Chris out to the staging area, so that he could warm-up and get going, and in the process discovered that they were going to have a 20-minute delay in start times. The course itself consisted of two long "false flat" sections going south along Owasco Lake, before turning to the east, going down hill for a bit and then flat until the turn-around at about 8 miles. I had a start time of about 10:30, and by the time I got to the start house the sun had broken through and with that there was a STRONG wind coming from the south. So, I had to plow through a tough head wind for the first several miles on the false flat sections, and then after making the turn, I really was working hard to keep the bike upright as the cross wind battered me from the right and then from the left, after I made the turn around. In the process I caught a few guys but was also caught by a guy from a minute back. On the stretch leading back to the finish line he and I traded back and forth while we had a tail wind (he was a bigger rider and probably was better built for TTing in the wind than I). And, for the final sections I was fully in 55-12 gearing and hauling @$$ to the finish line. The end result put me in 12th position, which I had mixed feelings about, because I was looking to be in the top 10 and the top rider had nearly 2 minutes on my time.

Once the TT was done and I had cooled down a while, we headed back to the hotel for lunch, self-massage, and a nap to get ready for the downtown crit that eveneing. The weather was really warming up and by mid afternoon it was certainly in the 70's, but as I was warming up, before the 18:15 start time that the Cat 3's had, the rain came and I was left under the gate of my Xterra thinking "this is going to be interesting." The crit itself was a "6-curve" course around the town center with two lanes of road just for us and a small finiahing hill… in general it was FAST! However, with the pouring rain that we now were suffering the officials decided not to have the intermediate sprints for time bonus (of which there were going to be 7 for 5, 3, and 1 second each) and, while I was a little disappointed about the lost oportunity to move up in GC, I think it was the right decision. In general the pace was pretty fast, but the course itself was not at all very decisive and without the sprints the field hung mostly together. However, not just once or twice, but three times a vehicle wandered on to the course, and we all had a few close calls trying to avoid on-coming traffic at 35 mph. In the end I finished with the field, when I got hemmed in on the inside of the final sprint, but two of the GC-guys ahead of me somehow lost time, and I eneded up in 10th.
Pasta, oatmeal, and a pear… then, to sleep.

After closer inspection of the GC situation I saw that the next guy was only 1 second up and less than 10 seconds in front of him was #8, so I was certainly looking to grab some time bonuses on the cheap if I could. Thinking that maybe with a 75-mile RR ahead of them and with two event already in their legs the field my let me go on a solo flyer for a little while, I warmed up really well and hit LT from the line trying to get to the first KOM (at 7 miles) alone. However, my gamble did not pay off with great visbility and the field caught me with about 500m to the top of the KOM, and I was hurtin' bad to get across it myself. From then on the plan was simply to keep a good eye on all the GC guys that were near me, while trying to recover from my initial effort. Two guys broke away, shortly after the first KOM and the field let them go a little while knowing we could easily catch them however, we missed our turn to the approach of the second KOM and ended up having to U-turn in the middle of the race to get back on course so the two riders took it uncontested. While I had nothing to really contest the 1.2-mile, 6.5% climb, I was able to make it across in relatively good shape. For the rest of the race I really couldn't do much but sit in, so I stayed near the front making sure that I didn't miss any splits that might occur, but the course had long sections of flat or down-hill, where one could see for miles literally, so the field stuck together for the most part only sheading a few riders here and there. I had worked out a deal with ECV to get a feed, but that got a little boched-up and one of their riders is now all upset with me for "being in the way." Then, in the final miles I became totally focused on the guy ahead of me and trying to position myself to take a second from him, if the oportunity should arise that I missed a small break that got away with only a few miles to go, but was able to hold 50 seconds on the field, because everyone was goofing around with GC placings in their mind. The finsh was super fast with a down hill approach to the last 200m, but again I eneded up just somewhere in the field. Because I didn't cover the break two guys snuck in ahead of me in GC and I eneded up back in 12th for the weekend.

Overall I am happy with how I felt and how I raced physically. I would have liked to have been at least in the top 10 places for GC, if not the top 5. But, the gambles I took did not pay off. Still, the weekend was great, and I even had enough energy to make the drive all the way home. Next year I hope that we can make this a big QuadCycles event, because it is really very fun and great preparation for other stage races during the year.

The Owasco Stage Race

by Christopher Rehm

So it was a great weekend. We left Friday at about noon got there about 530. Rode the TT course, ate and then bed. Saturday Am was the TT, it was borderline cold but warmed up as things got going. They were about 20 min late starting. Long course, 16 miles, windy windy windy. I broke a spoke in my aero wheels 5 min before the start, bummer.  Got 42 in the TT, then back off to the motel for a nap. It actually got sunny for the crit, easy 1.5 km course, in the center of town, no corners. Now thats my kind of crit, only one acceleration at the beginning and then just pedal like mad for 30 min and 12 sec. We did 28 km in that time, you figure out the speed (I’ll give you a physics quiz on this the next time I see you…)  33rd in the crit. 3-4 nice crashes, really bizzare, and a lot of surly riders, there is something about New York racing… Right after the masters crit the rain started, I’ll let Jonah tell you all about that lovely race,  and then a quick meal and off to bed.

Next morning we went to the RR. Nice sunny day. Oops forgot the sun screen, oh well. Race gets started about 20 min late, we ride about 2 miles and as is the norm in masters racing one guy goes off the front and all hell breaks loose. We were strung out single and double file for about 6  miles. He gets caught, and then another break goes, this ones not a threat to GC gone up the road, until they miss a turn. The leaders slow the field down for the break to get back on, and take a nature break. Then as soon as thats done the break goes mad again, same guys, up the road, and then we are all going 30 on the flats. First KOM was trival.  About 10 miles on get to the second, I do ok on that, but about a mile up the road on another roller two guys in front of me let a gap open and then another attack from GC contender goes, no way to close the gap. Me and 2 guys, different than the ones that let the gap opened chased the field all the way to the town at the bottom of the lake, about 30-45 sec behind but couldn't close it.

Then third KOM comes up, and pack blows sky high. I got dropped and started looking for another masters rider to work with, none in sight, so I rode about 10 miles on my own (hey I obviously needed the practice after Saturday why not start right now I think) until a little group of  5 masters and 3 cat 4s shows up, we ride to the finish together, more or less, with one lunatic from the cat 4’s attacking the group every 5 minutes. Then he goes to pick a fight with one of the masters riders. They are pushing and shoving and one older guy is looking at me and saying “you wouldn't believe it, it’s been like this for 30 miles—that kid is nuts” etc etc. Well he was nuts, by appearances. The funniest part was him trying to hook a masters rider and failing miserably and then having the masters guy  who he was arguing with and who was his intended hooking victim show him how to do it right…Ah the joys of racing in NY, I love it. Anyway we got to the finsh , got about 42 in the RR. All in all a really fun weekend of racing. I’ll be back next year,  for sure, hopefully  will be able to last until the third KOM in the field and stay out of the twilight zone groupetto…