OK so the Masters 45+ and Masters 55+ are all merged together and this is my first race with a full field -- 125 Guys wow. That's a lot of bodies whipping down one half of the road at 25+ MPH. So we roll along and I sorta stick to the white line on the right side as I'm a bit nervous to get in the middle of this huge mass of energy all wanting to win 55 miles from now.
I do OK and after about 10 miles John K said hey get out from the side wind and get in the middle and the draft will just pull you along. So I move to the left a bit , But I still have to pedal !! Where is this big suction?? Actually you work about 30% less when you’re in a big peleton cranking along @ 20-25-30 MPH. It was fun and not to many squirrelly riders near me.
So we get close to the end of LAP #1 - we had to do this 19+ mile loop three times. We all turn onto the road up to Jiminy peak ( oh did I say up) so just prior to this point I noticed john K working his way up front so I attempted to get closer to the lead guys. AT this point were going real real fast as everybody else had the same idea. If your not the young 45 years old studs or some of the older super fast guys you want to get up in the group so if you slip back in the pack you can hang with the group for another lap. Well I should have moved up maybe two-three more rows as I just fell off the pack at the top of the climb I mean they were right there. THEN they were gone - Just like that instant no-mans land. I would say 80+ guys were now in the lead group and I could see John K in the 1st chase group just up 50 yards but working as a group they were going way faster then the 4-5 guys I was with. We worked together for a mile or so and it just blew up. All of a sudden I was all alone. NOT A GOOD DEAL AT ALL......
I look back and see 15-20 guys a solid 1/2 mile back and take the dumb approach keep working and I can catch chase group #1. That never happened and I was overtaken and joined in on Chase #2. This group had a bunch of 45+ guys ( # 600 range) and 7-8 from my class 55+ ( 700 range) so we roll along and start a nice pace line all working and taking nice short pulls . Then it all just stopped - no one but 3-4 of us would do any work. I'm told at this point some guys are just cooked, and they may fall off soon. We kept on going got on the section going south on route 7 and most of the riders were still hanging on. After the 2nd Climb up to Jiminy Peak we shed quite a few guys and now it like 5 ea. 55+ Guys a few 45+ and a few stragglers from the Cat 3 class.
One more Lap with this group again several not working at all. You would do your pull look back and no one was moving up so I would slow down -- say screw this sit up and the few of us working just kept getting on the front. This one guy attacked several times we he always came back.
On the final climb the attack guy took off again he had reserve for sure , another guy I remember from Quabbin just pulled away and I had nothing left in the tank, one other rider who was big but strong ( he was taking more time pulling all day than anyone) he also started pulling away. So I look back will my legs to get this race over and hold off a guy who pulled up next to me.
Finish line and that’s it - 16th in Masters 55+ group
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1 comment:
Yeah,it takes a little while to feel comfy in the middle of a 125 man pack.
Anyway,I think you did a good job.
Great write up.
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