Race report

First off, congrats to Ryan for the strong finish yesterday at Sunapee. I was going to do that race but I had to work the night before, so I decided to do the North Stonington RR instead. I finished 17th of 39. Not sure what the final total was but it was at least 39 

Anyway the start was a nuetralized to the start/finish which is at the top of a hill- approx. 1km long and with a  4-5% avg. gradient. A nuetralized start up a hill climb?   The race was 3 laps of 6 miles of rolling terrain  with the hilltop finish.  The pace was moderate. I was about 5th-8th during the first lap. One rider tried to break away after the first lap. We could see him up the road. I was feeling good. Then all of a sudden the pace really picked up. Nobody was attacking but I think they thought  that the rider might get away. But with 2 more laps to go and we could still see him up the road, I couldn't figure out why we were chasing him so hard.  Why chase? Besides he ended up getting dropped and I passed him on the last lap anyway. I don't get it. There weren't many teams in the group. Just a lot of individual riders. So nobody was really working together. I was hoping that at least a few riders would be working together. 

Needless to say, my body was not ready for this sudden surge, and it only being the beginning of the second lap. I could have (should have) went along, at least hopped on a wheel and stayed at the back, but I foolishely (beginner mistake)  let the peleton slip by up a hill, then down and around a corner and never saw them again. So I didn't necessarily get dropped because of the pace- I more or less let myself get dropped.  I did however manage to catch up with some other riders  during the last lap that were dropped and attempted to get a paceline going in an attempt to get back to the peloton. However they were either too beat and couldn't keep up, or really didn't know how to work a paceline. Cause' I was third in line and the the 1st rider finished his pull, then cuts in front of me!  Anyway, I ended up dropping these dudes because, they were wasting my time. There were only three of us Keiran, don't worry, nobody was going down. Got to the the finishing climb and saw some more riders that were dropped. I passed about 3-4 on the way up, and sprinted past one last rider to the line. So I managed to finish a race this year and keep the rubber side down. So I'm happy with my results.

Next race for me is the Hartford crit next week. Anyone planning on going? I'll also be doing some other crits in CT. Then the Housatonic Hills RR in June. Has anyone done that one before? I'll also try to get to Wells, if I'm not racing and I'm off. Did anyone do Wells today? Oh and by the way, yes I did race on the new Rivet! It is one freakin sweet ride! Very light and responsive. Transfer power very well.

Sorry guys for the long post.

Cheers,
Shawn W