Concord/BOW CAT_$$

John Starvish     Posted Aug 3, 2009 10:14am

Concord Crit:

I popped my cherry. This is the first criterium I have ever entered outside of Wells Ave (depending on who you speak to, Wells is/is not a crit). Since I was the ultimate sandbagger this weekend, my goal was to help my teammates and not take upgrade points/opportunity from the field. Met up w/ Jeff, Julian and Colm beforehand. No warm up (and no riding the week prior). Course went the opposite direction from normal years due to a newly placed “rotary” at one of the intersections. Start up hill into turn 2, flat/down hill into turn 3, downhill S-turn into turn 4 and a long wide stretch into the finish. Colm opted out of Jeff and my shenanigans as he claims he’s not a sprinter (still not convinced). Jeff and I were to dial it in on the first prime lap, then sit in for the remainder. We were too deep going into the S-turn and coming out of the final corner. We were making ground until my 11 started skipping. I looked down to see a twig in the cog flapping away. I spent the next few laps at the back in the 11 trying to grind it down, which I eventually did. The next few laps were spent moving back up to the front. The key was going into turn 3 at the tip of the spear. I missed this placement w/ 1 to go and ended up slotted a few spots behind Jeff (note to future leadout men: you need to be in FRONT of your leadout man. Did I mention this was my first crit?). Anyway, all was good and safe through the finish. We picked up a few riders but started the corner too far back to do any real damage. I will say that I really enjoyed the race, the course and the damn fine weather. It was a nice tune up for Sunday in the hills.

Central NH RR (aka BOW):

Jeff went rock climbing, so we replaced him w/ Senne, McCoy and Rock (yes, it takes 3 to replace Hebert, this is what he tells us anyway). Today’s goal was all about the Irish Billy Goat that is Colm. The man is on form and we wanted to capitalize. Again, the sandbagger, I was there in support and not to take points from the field. I rolled up next to Cambridge prior to the race and solicited a loose partnership. Basically, we have a guy we want to go up and if you do too, we’ll help you keep the dogs at bay. They were up for it. I let Colm know about the plan at the line (figured he should be in the know since he was said “guy”). Neutral up the first climb and no real action through lap 1. Up again, no action. On climb 3, Colm and co. got a gap (Cambridge there as well). Hmm…..If I slow down on this hill, I wonder….Gap opened and up and over they went w/ about 6. I crested w/ another Cambridge rider and we sat in to see if we could cultivate it further. The descent was too much for the break to handle. They were out for most of the lap, but we had 3 in the chase group that were motivated despite our attempts. We reconnected w/ 1 to go. Up and over and a group of 20 of us were left in the field. I told Colm that I would go on the final stretch and he as to either grab my wheel or sit in a few wheels back. I would do what I could to stretch it out and see what he could do in the sprint. 3 got away towards the end of this lap. We crested the final incline before the downhill screamer to the finish. I didn’t like the 3 away so I went a bit earlier then I would have liked. I led down the hill and into the finishing straight, passed the 3 away, all together. Hit the slight incline and had nada remaining. Hoping it was enough I sat up and rolled in after the action. Colm didn’t catch the wheel and had the same sensations on the final riser that I had (feeling it from his break efforts). He finished 14th, I 20th. We came, we saw, we tried. DNF’s all over the board (really, check the results, every field, anyone know if there was a crash in the 3’s?). Senne and Rock were casualties. Julian finished a few minutes back, congrats for gutting it out. Also, our boy McCoy, in his first CAT 4 race, finished just under 90 seconds back from the pack. Great result on this course for your first race. This pretty much marks the end of racing for me this year. I’ll be hitting wells and maybe a few spotty races here or there. I really enjoyed riding with you all this year. I particularly enjoyed this weekend as racing for/with the team is just as much (if not more) fun than gunning for a podium or points. Looking forward to next year.

John

Colm McMahon     Posted Aug 4, 2009 5:16pm

Concord Crit:
Nice course but a few key points – there was one tight corner with a high kerb taken slowly because it was uphill, but a lot of handlebar rubbing in this bend each time thru. For next year – the last 4 corners are basically no pass zones, so top 5 placing is what you need going into them on the last lap. I came thru in about 10th on the last lap, got stuck behind someone who must have been in the wrong gear, had to brake, move around and then sprint – came in 15th.

Bow, Central NH road race.
This is a 4 lap 11mile circuit with a climb just after the finish. This poses a real dilemma for climbers, if you make a break on the hill, you have 11 flat or downhill roads to be exposed to headwinds and get caught by the pack by the finish. Was in two minds about this at the start. John mentioned the possibility of a BRC-Cambridge co-operation so that if we both got in a break, the teams would block together. Still somewhat aprehensive since John had also told me that the breaks usually got caught on this course, I decided I would only go if there was a clearly strong group that had enough riders to make it work and preferably a Cambridge rider.

Got up to front 5 or 6 first time up the hill and sized up the competition – about 6 or 7 of us were setting the pace on the climb each time thru, including Jesse Pereault from Cambridge. I decided I would not initiate a break but go with it if the front few went for it. Second time up the hill and cound hear the sound of heavy breathing from the pack, but no break this time. Third time up the hill and an attack goes, 5 other riders who seemed strong, so I go with it. We workred well together and didnt really do anything wrong, but we were caught after a few miles out in the open. By the next, fourth time up the hill, I was feeling the effects of the break away effort and just tried to stay at the front. The group stayed together to the finish from here on in.

2 miles to go and John kindly offers a lead out. I accept the offer. Then we sorta lose each other as multple attacks come off on the last two miles. Really wishing i hadnt gone on a break away now. Then I saw John go down the right side, but i’m too far away to get his wheel. I try to catch up, but am pretty spent by now, Got a little stuck behind my least favorite type of rider – strong, but a mess, all over the road. (I overheard another rider telling him to get it together earlier as he’d taken the other guy out by weaving on an earlier climb). Got around him after brief delay but ended up buried in the pack, boxed in and could only get 14th.

So thanks much to John for trying to help, wish i could have made more of it. The break was a gamble, but a reasonably calculated one. If I were to do a race like this again (climb 10 miles from finish) I’d just use whatever climbing ability I have to stay fresh for the finish instead of burying myself in a break-away.

Cheers all!
Colm