Sterling CAT 4 RR - 5-12-08
Race Summary: Low 50s Dry!
5 – 8 Mile laps (40 miles), 62 riders
NEBC Summary:
4th Brian Campbell, 13th John Gibbons, 14th Eric
Wemhoff , 16th Colby Ricker
Joshua Tetrault, Oscar Jimenez, Geoff Martin, Bernard
Tan, Wayne Cunningham, Joseph Jussaume, Stefan
Wawersik
The course consists of 3 distinct sections, the climb out Sterling Center, the down hill section to RT 12 and then RT 12 which is completely flat. There are only two turns to be concerned about, the right turn onto RT 12 and the sharp right at the start of the climb out of Sterling Center.
The first 4 laps were pretty uneventful. The field regroup on RT 12 each lap boxing me in every time. Also the slight pitch into Sterling Center was very deceptive. It seemed easy but it was enough to wear out any exposed rider for the upcoming climb out of Sterling Center.
The final lap climb out of Sterling Center was not aggressive; in fact I thought the 4th lap climb was faster. Unfortunately I heard a crash from behind and I think this is when Joe went down (no worries, the bike was fine :) ). At the start of the decent, the pace picked up, I stayed with the group and I was in about 15th. Our team was in great shape Joshua, Wayne, Jay, Colby, Oscar and I were all in this group.
At the start of RT 12, I focused on staying on the left side to prevent getting boxed, but it was no use. Riders kept pouring in around me and by the time we passed under 190 the field had bunched up and I was in the middle of the pack again, roughly 35th place. I decided I was going to have to fight my way through the middle since the left side was totally clogged and constantly gushing more riders from behind. Spaces did open up and I was able to needle right up the gut of the pack to about 20th place nestling in behind Colby and Eric. An opening formed on the far right and Eric jumped in with Cobly and me following. Eric got us right up to the front group and we slipped back into the field. Then a big acceleration started from the left side. I had to stay protected in the group b/c I would burn out quickly if I were exposed. This unfortunately allowed riders to come up from the right side and I was boxed in again, one lane in from the right, with a wall of riders in front of me. Then by pure luck, one of the riders who launched the big attack blew up and pulled to the far right and slowed way down, clearing out the lane next to me. I jumped into the open lane and sprinted into the 10 top just before the incline into Sterling Center. The front thinned into a single line with some riders to the left trying to get in. I was worried that someone might come up my right side and box me in but luckily nobody did (the pace was very high at this point). I hugged the right side as we entered Sterling Center to prevent anyone from getting around me. I stayed very tight on the sharp right turn to the finish giving me a wide open lane for the sprint. I sprinted up and passed a bunch of people and was neck and neck with the 1st and 2nd place finishers ¾ the way up. But I did not have the stamina to sustain my power and they pulled ahead slightly, then at the finish line a BRC rider who was behind me the entire climb just nipped in front of my wheel.
All in all we had great representation and I was very pleased that so many members showed up. I should also mention that Wayne maintained a top 10 position most of the race, allowing me to focus on energy conservation and not worry about early attacks. Great job everyone!
For those of you who are interested, Geoff & Kathy were kind enough to post some pictures we took during the race. We tried to get a shot of just about everyone.