All Fields GMSR Stage 2 - Scott Brooks 9-1-07
The second day has come and gone, and I am pleased to say that all of the NEBC riders are up and ready to race tomorrow. Facing at least two gap passes, it would be presumptious to say that we are looking forward to it though.
In the P/1/2 field, Chris Hong, Peter Bradshaw, and Roy van Cleef each finished in the field. The race was 72 miles long, featuring 3 and 3/4 laps on a tough course with nearly 4,000 feet of climbing.
The men’s 3 field saw two guys break away at mile 12, then stay away for the next 60 miles. Gary Douville, Scott Brooks, Jesse Chebot, Greg Brown and Dave Chiu were at the front for much of the day, driving the pace and trying to bring back the two. Unfortunately, no other teams were interested in shutting down the break. This led to a fair amount of exposure, but no positive result. Each of us finished in the field sprint. For me at least, this was fantastic. With 300 meters to the line, the rider on my right decided he needed my line and hit me with such force that I nearly lost control of my ride. The bike shook uncontrollably, and when it came back too and I was upright, I decided that middle of the pack was better then middle of the road and I soft pedaled in. Jesse and Dave witnessed this behind me and decided the same.
In the 4 fields, Brian Anderson climbed up in the standings to take 14th in GC. Tim Dodd finished with 9th place. Keith Reynolds was close behind with 18th. Mark Theeman was the top NEBC finisher for the day with a 7th.
Sam Dery continued her strong results with 8th place today, resulting in 13th place overall.
Everyone is well fed today, well massaged, a special shout out to Guy Bedeau for traveling to Vermont and providing massages to the tired racers.
Stay tuned all, tomorrow is a long tough day and there will be certainly plenty to report about!!!
Scott