Summer Solstice

Sorry for the delay...here's the Summer Solstice Race Report (Saturday 6/14/08)

Well, I can’t say the weekend was a total loss but I had high hopes of racing all three days. Friday night’s race plans were prematurely cancelled by some serious candy in our nether regions. The rain started around 4pm on Friday and didn’t let up till almost 6pm. The radar wasn’t promising much of a break in the Wilmington area either. After much inner debate, I packed the car and headed up I-71, only to be thwarted by Friday night traffic. Doah! I turned around and went home.

Saturday’s weather was much better and several of us DH’s (Tank, Stephen, Goert, Moore, and myself) headed north for some bike racing. We arrived to find out that the previous evenings races were not cancelled and stayed fairly dry (Doah!). We also discovered that today’s course contained several miles of gravel that was recently laid in preparation for new black top (Doah!).

Kudo’s to the race officials, who likely heard all the grumbling and made a solid of effort to quickly re route the course. As a result, the finish line direction, feed zones, etc. were changed. The race was slightly delayed, which was kind of nice, as we were able to take are time getting ready. Instead of racing a 13 mile loop, an 8 mile (lollipop or circuit) loop was devised. On the last lap, the official would ring the bell and we would make a left back to the finish line. In other words we only passed the finish line once (at the end).

It was my first CAT 3 race and I kind of felt alone, as the rest of my team lined up behind me in the 4 race. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t regretting my decision to up-grade. All in all, we raced 8 laps for about 67 miles. Our average was a little over 24 mph. The pace was tolerable but the distance and heat were another story, entirely. The story for the day was hydration. I ran out of water almost immediately and relied on the feed zones, which were very dangerous and not worth the risk and effort required to snag a bottle of 90 degree water at 20 miles an hour. There was at least one crash that I’m aware in the feed zone and I heard of other mishaps in the 4’s, as well. On one lap, I was so determined to grab a bottle that I had to slow down to almost 10-15 miles an hour to get one. This was a big mistake, as the rest of the men kept riding along at 23miles, leaving me no choice but to produce a massive effort to get back on (one handed, juggling a bottle of water in one hand). A Saturn of Dayton rider gave me a swig of his water bottle.

There were a few attacks early on by Olympus Homes but then things calmed down considerably. Besides the feed zone crash, a man went down on the back side of the course, before the hill. The mishap occurred on the course’s fastest section; a moderate down hill with a roller and a soft “s” turn with a bit of gravel on the road. The racer apparently bumped another rider (a team mate of his) on the turn and went down. Luckily, no one else went down with him.

With 2 to 3 laps to go a three man break stayed away for the duration (Greg Cavanagh, Ryan Vingris and Kris Siatkowsky). Every one seemed content with the break and things were moderate for the rest of the day. There was one hill that took its toll, though. Every lap, I was grateful to have climbed it and with the pack. The hill was rather short and probably not that steep for a lot of guys, but the speed in which the pack climbed this thing took getting use to. I also think the right hand turn right before the climb was a factor. If you were not the first 15 guys through the turn you had to sprint to catch back-on and then…boom; the hill and then steady rollers for another quarter mile.

Anyway, with one lap to go, a solo break went with about 2 miles to go. It was an impressive solo effort by Cameron Jackson of Rgf Solutions that no one contested. I heard a few folks grumbling that this was a stupid move, but not really. He stayed away and finished fourth. Nice job. The pack was sprinting for 5th. I expected it to be harder to move to the front as the finish line approached, but found a strong wheel to get behind (Thanks Christopher Beck, Fed Ex) and tried to stay strong to the line. He finished 5th overall and 1st in the field sprint. I held on for 10th overall and 6th in the field sprint. Lots of room for improvement but I was happy with my results and even happier to get off the bike, where I was greeted by my team mates. All in all, I was sun burnt and dehydrated but it was a fun day.