Torelli Spring Classic -- Tour of Licking Co.

Another small turnout, this time on a spectacular day and a forgiving course - I don't understand it. Due to the small numbers, Tym gave the Bs a head start and made the As chase with prizes going to the first across the line.

My plan was to race conservatively today. Chris, Ryan and Tim (Savage Hill As) asked the Savage Hill Bs to sit tight and let them bridge up. But like most pre-race plans, they were chucked out the window before we had hardly rolled out of town. Chris Grisvard jumped early. Andys from Breakaway countered...and where Andys goes I go. So I jumped up to the move. One more breakaway rider joined us and we were off. The next time I looked back, the field was fading into the distance. I tried my "I'm waiting for teammates" line on the guys in the break, just to see if I could get away with it, but it didn't go over too well. So I started pulling through. Besides I figured any move off the front was good for the team regardless of who was in it.

After about 5 minutes Grisvard tells us to slow up, there are chasers about the catch. It was Doug Cravener from Unizan, Pete from Breakaway, and Larry! Cool, an ally in the break. We worked it really hard for two laps. I was just a hair below redline the entire time. No worries though, I could tell by the slowdowns on the small rollers, everyone was pushing hard. Part way into the third lap Grisvard again announces that guys are about to catch. This time it's four guys from the As. But unfortunately, no one from Savage Hill.

Ironically once the As caught us the race got a lot easier for me. Even though there were huge surges and attacks, those were easier to handle than the consistent effort of working the paceline. For the first time in the race I started to feel my legs coming back. Eventually two of the As got away - Mike House and Mike Sterr. That left us with Jack Law and a Montgomery Cyclery guy.

Jack and Larry made a solid attempt to bridge to the Mike-Mike super-duo. But eventually they came back to the group and settled in for the last lap. On the last turn before town, Pete jumped hard in the corner. I jumped after him with Doug on my wheel. The move caught everyone off guard and we got a decent gap on a disorganized group. I felt like I had the legs to pull it off. I pulled through and kept the pace high. But Doug wasn't going to work and Pete told me to shut it down. So we sat up.

The finish came down to a sprint with Larry starting the lead-out and Pete finishing it. I got on Andys's wheel. But I was probably too far back. Andys can sprint from the back of a group, but I cannot. I didn't loose or gain ground in the sprint and finished where I started for 4th in the Bs race (8th overall).

It's such a fine line between clever and stupid.

Small field, handicapped race, flat, short, fast. The break formed in the first stretch of the first lap with two Breakaway guys (change your name guys, it's so pretentious) a Torelli and Will going. After they were pretty well off a solo Unizan countered followed by another Breakaway guy. I grabbed the wheel figuring the whole pack would be with me but we ended up alone. The Unizan guy pulled us all the way to the leaders, bless his soul and that was the rest of the race for the 3/4 field. After things settled out and everyone showed their passports we ended up working together fairly effectively. A handful of 123's (sadly no teammates) caught us on lap two and things got real painful for awhile until two of them made a solid break. On the back stretch the pace slowed to a crawl for no apparent reason and I sensed that the 123 Torelli guy was going to jump. I was right and I rode his wheel for a long time before I finally had to help out. We had a chance a catching the leaders, no thanks to me, but they kicked in again and we were caught again about a half lap later.

Coming into town on the last lap I had a searing pain in my side and I knew the sprint would be futile. So when the pain settled down a little I took one last turn at the front to try to string the field out and get Will into a better position and crossed the line off the back of the group.

Out numbered by Break Away Cycles, four to one and none of them wanted to work.
Out sprinted at end by guy who sat on the whole race.

Good job to the 3/4's you rode a very smart race. It was kind of nice to race the handicap format. It added something a little different to the race, which is good. It has been almost a year since I have raced in a 3/4 field. There were many things that I had forgotten about the 3/4 tactics.

The A field started out at a nice smooth, fast pace. We kept the pace up until we made up the three minute gap on the B group. There were a few attacks after the group was caught, but nothing was realling going. Finally after we started the 2nd lap things picked up a bit. There were a few hard attacks and then finally Swain and a few other riders got off of the front. Ryan and two other riders attacked a minute or so later and strung things out quite a bit. This caused too many gaps for me to cover and eventually I had to fall back to the group. This is where things differ from the 1/2/3's and the 3/4 fields. The 3/4's are very content to sit while in a 1/2/3 race it is nice to try to keep the break in site, but just out of reach. This may mean pushing the pace even if you have someone in the break. It is also nice to get your moneys worth and get a good workout in by doing some paceline work.

With about a lap and a half left the pack let me roll off and two break away riders came with me. After about a mile we caught Swain. All I can say is that the first two laps felt horrible in this race. I was not able to settle into any good pace until the last lap and a half. The guys with me almost could have just sat on my wheel and taken a free ride for the last lap and a half. I was able to push a stout pace and my heart race was low enough that I could have pushed the pace indefintally.

In the end it was a very nice day for a race. It was also fun to race with some of our guys that I have not raced with for a while. Jon O and Jay were looking strong.

Just finished with the field but I was able to do some things today that would've caused me to blow up soo FAST last year. I found today to be an encouragement which I really needed today. I just wish it would've been a 3/4 race instead of the handicap race it was today. Thanks John.

After the initial breaks went and our group slowed, I heard the quote of the day from one of the Unizan riders: “Finally, I can contribute to the team—by just sitting here and riding easy.” Hmm, sounds familiar.

The A’s arrived and the attacks began. They started small, but they managed to spike the pace. When we turned to go downwind though, we were given a lesson in lactate tolerance. Finally, only a couple could respond. Luckily, Tim S. was in that number. A moment later a couple more went, including Ryan. Taking stock as things settled down: we had Will and Larry in the front 7; then Tim in the A’s chase; Ryan in a group chasing them; then Chris, Jay, myself, and about 10 others in what was left of the pack.

That was basically the end of the race for me. Ryan later came back, then flatted. Chris finally eased off the front of our group after attacking a number of times. He hooked up with an unknown SHC that had come back (later found to be Tim) and two BreakAways. The other BreakAway riders in our group, Jay, and I were all yelled at for not pulling through.

And I’ll have to work on that leadout, Jay. Once more, I had fun on a beautiful Saturday to race.