Sterling classic cat 3 - Roy Van Cleef - 5-14-07
The Posse:
John Broussard
Roy Van Cleef
Chris Hong
Scott Brooks
Jay Francis
Justin Howe
Anthony Laskaris
Julian Gent
Dave Rizzo
Jim Burke
It was another beautiful day for racing with temperatures creeping into the 70s and not a cloud in the sky. We were to do 7 laps of an 8 mile course following some very narrow undulating roads before coming onto the long wide section of route 12 and then a sharp right hand bend and a steep 200 yard uphill sprint to the finish.
I spent the first half lap trying to get near the front where Scott already was and then took some long pulls to stretch things out and deter any breaks going off early. I also saw Jay up there but after 2 laps I got tired and sat in for a while in the middle mingling with Anthony and Justin. I saw Scott go off the front and he managed to stay away for nearly a lap and a half with a small group.
There was one small crash in the 3rd lap and then again in the 4th lap a large group went down including Jay, who had to go to hospital, but seems to have escaped any serious injury. I got bumped around during the crash but it was off to the side and I managed to continue. Unfortunately a group got caught bahind it and soon the field was pretty stretched out infront of me but I just kept a steady pace and waited for it all to come back together again. It eventually did after 4 miles but was significantly reduced and there were only 4 Nebc jerseys left and the group was down to about 40 riders.
I then realised that my brake or tyre was rubbing. I opened up the calipers but it didn’t help so I pulled to the side of the road, checked the wheel was straight and then saw that the brake had just been knocked to the side so I straightened it up and hopped back on the bike and set my sights on the wheel car which was about 30 seconds up the road. I hammered to catch back on with the diminished field sometimes looming tantalizingly close before surging ahead again but after 5 miles I was back with the group.
Unfortunately a small break had already gone off the front and we only had about 10 miles to go. Scott and John moved to the front and chased. I tried to recover as much as I could and then moved towards the front with 500 yards to go before the final turn. I was second wheel and Scott saw me so he put in a huge effort. With 200 before the turn I found myself at the front but pulled over and waited for someone else to come through. I then jumped on their wheel and stayed there through the final bend. Two riders came flying through on the inside and I tried to sprint after them but ended up getting 4th in the field sprint while the small break of 4 riders had managed to stay away.
John and Chris were right there to finish 16th and 17th respectively.