Race Weekend in Auburn, Maine

This weekend, I did both the road race and the crit in Auburn, Maine. I had some bad luck and I had some good luck.

There are a lot of photos of multiple categories for both the RR and crit at EJS Photography.

I didn't know how I'd feel for the Auburn weekend. I was sick the previous week and hadn't touched my bike since the Cyclonauts Racers Criterium at Stafford Springs. Fortunately, it was a rest week so I didn't miss any training.

The RR was four laps of an 11.5 mile loop. There was a mile climb to the start/finish and a short steep climb about a mile after the start. The rest of the course was flat.

I briefly enjoyed some time off the front on the second lap when I covered an attack for my teammate Pete who was up the road. Five of us stayed away for two or three miles before we were caught.

Mid-way through the third lap, the field split when a rider went down in the middle of the pack. I didn't go down but had to chase hard to rejoin the pack. I paid for my effort and went straight out the back only minutes later when we started the climb to the start/finish. I rode the last lap alone, much of it with the field in sight.

A Portland Velo Club rider soloed for 3+ laps of the race for the win. Impressive.

Sunday's crit course was 20 laps of a 0.75 mile rectangular loop with left hand turns and a short hill after the start/finish. My warm-up was cut short (way too short) thanks to two flats. You can see below that I have mis-matched wheels. As a result of the near zero warm-up, I treated the first half of the short race as my warm-up. Parts of the course were quite bumpy. I lost my only bottle on the very bumpy downhill stretch on Main Street.



With about 10 laps completed, a rider went down when his hand(s) slipped off his bars on bumpy Main Street. Two or three more riders also went down. The speed was pretty high so I was glad to learn later that no one was seriously hurt.

When I was warmed-up, I move towards the front. Only then did I learn that my teammate Pete was up the road, alone. A handful of riders bridged to Pete but they didn't work well together. The group dangled 15-20 seconds ahead of the field. Just before we passed the start/finish with four laps to go, things came back together. Grupo compacto.

On the short steep hill after the start/finish with four laps to go, I took the opportunity to move up for the final few laps. Moving up was easier than expected. My teammate Pete urged me to attack. I attacked near the end of the steep hill. I looked back before turning left to start the descent and committed to the move when I saw that I had a decent gap. I knew my 'girth' would help me on the downhill. I didn't have any HR data (another snafu of the day) so I gauged my effort the old fashion way: just go.

Three laps to go. One lap into the effort. I still had a gap. I was confident that I could stay away for the win if I still had 10-15 seconds with one to go. Jen was cheering from the last corner.

Two laps to go. Half-way there. I still had a good gap.

One lap to go. The crowd was cheering. Loudly. I could make out the voices of some people I know. The announcer (I should know his name) Alan Atwood was fantastic. It was remarkably inspiring.

Final lap. Before the last left going in to the start/finish, I looked back to check my lead. Still healthy. On the start/finish straight, I checked my lead again. I threw my arms in the air with a double fisted salute. I was thrilled with the win.

My teammate Corey made it two VeloEuropa-Cyfac on the podium by taking third. It was a great race for the team.

Thanks to everyone who cheered and for the congratulations after the race. And thanks to The Original JB for the 'press release' on Monday.



Picture from Pioneer Event Productions.