Category: M45+ 1/2/3/4
Result: Top ten

Raced in the full field (100) of Masters 45+ 1/2/3/4, accompanied by Carl Anderson. Two laps and 48 miles approximately.

This weekend I did the honors, and drove the Birch mobile to the aforementioned RR. Carl arrived bang on 06:00 and we were on the road by 06:15. We were hoping to get there in plenty of time to enable a decent warm up and to get a parking spot within a least a brisk walk to the registration and porta potty's. We managed both.

After collecting numbers we bumped into Coble and Zig in the bathroom line and chewed the fat about racing and whatnot. Coble placed 7th last week in the P/1/2/3 after getting in the break of 7. Great for him.

Back to the car to set up trainers etc. During the etc part, I ripped the valve out of my back wheel, so spent a few minutes fixing that rather than warming up. I was hoping to get a decent warm up, nothing to intense, but enough to prevent a seizure because the race starts proper within two hundred yards of the staging area, and thus we could be up to a race speed within a couple of minutes of roll out.

So, we line up, and our field is the penultimate to start. There are hundreds and hundreds in front of us. An impressive sight. Weather is perfect. No wind, about 60-65 degrees, no knee or arm warmers required.

Whistle blows, motorbike and service vehicle roll out and we follow. We turn right on to the race course (Keyes Road) and the speed picks up until we are moving smartly along at 26-27 mph. Now last year, I was feeling great at this point, and this year was the same. How would I feel when we made the left on to Bledsoe, which is where I was dropped in a howling block headwind last year. Left turn, no problem. I even saw the front for a very short while, and then returned to mid pack.

Lots of Morgan Stanley in the race, maybe 9 of them. AV had a showing, along with VOS race team and Spine. It soon became apparent what the MS plan was. They had their strong man (Steve Gregorius) sit on Spines strong man (Mark Caldwell). Every time Caldwell made a move, Steve followed, Caldwell would sit up and then another MS team member would attack. Meanwhile, back in the bunch, their sprinter Don Langley was hiding with a domestique close by in case he should need assistance. VOS team members made sorties off the front and a break did escape for a few miles, but the speed of the pack was such that they came back after about 10 miles of freedom.

We averaged 26 MPH for the first lap and I was really impressed with the pace we maintained. On lap two it slowed slightly and I was feeling comfortable. I saw Carl move up and spend a short while leading. Last time on to Cox Ferry Road, the bumpy section with the rollers and I was feeling really comfortable. On to the rollers and I moved forward a few spaces. Up the last little hill and I managed to get in to the top 15-20, perfect. We sped down the hill and hammered left on to Keyes Road. I maintained position up through the Snelling Feed Zone and through the right-left combo.

I was getting worried about the lack of MS on the front. I thought that they would be setting a wicked pace, but they just massed at the front and did not go really hard. With 500 to go, which is slightly uphill, they finally went en bloc and I followed Stan of MS into the top 10. Another MS rider went really hard with Langly on his wheel, and he started his sprint with 250 to go, just out of sight of the finish line. By the time he crossed the line he had 20 meters over second and the sprinters. I managed to move up in the final 50 meters and nabbed 9th!

I have no clue where this is coming from. I definitely think the lower race mileage helped, but that does not really explain how I had the legs to move up on the bumpy rolling roads of Cox Ferry Road, nor maintain position once I got there. But whatever I did, I want more.

The average speed for the 48 miles was 25.2 mph, so I road race at crit speed. Cool.

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