Synopsis: 2nd place, thanks to a strong team effort
This race was a new race on the New England circuit, and part of New England Race Week, which culminates in the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic. The course was a short (~2.6 mile) circuit, which featured the renowned (thanks to the Boston Marathon) Heartbreak Hill, and a fast, downhill finish in Newton Center.
QuadCycles entered 5 people in the 10-lap category 3 race: Glenn Ferreira, Jeremy Jo, Matthew Miller, Eric Silva, and myself. There were over 70 starters, with many fast riders eying a good result before Fitchburg started on Thursday. However, in our pre-race discussions, we liked our chances, as the finish suited our strengths, and we had a well-practiced lead-out train.
The first few laps were pretty intense, especially going up Heartbreak Hill. There were several attacks up the hill, on the descent, and up the slight rise after the start-finish. However, it became pretty clear that an attack up the hill would have to be quite substantial to stick, as the downhill required a sustained effort to maintain speed, and the pack had no problem swallowing those who took flyers before we reached the start-finish.
I had set a goal before the race to not make any foolish attacks, or work too hard to bridge to any breaks—I’m prone to get excited since I’m coming into form—because I didn’t think they would stick, and I’d have my best shot in a bunch sprint. I didn’t meet this goal—at two points, I was off the front for no real reason—but I did well to not try to bridge up to the myriad attacks.
The middle laps were a little more subdued on the hill, and I was able to ride in the first 10-15 riders the whole time. The pace was high on the downhill, but I was able to always be on a wheel.
Cutting to the last time up the hill, the pace was high, but not unmanageable. I was sitting in the middle of the pack, on the right-hand side, when Glenn and Jeremy passed me; I knew it was time to get in finishing position. I hopped on their wheel, Glenn towed us up the side of the field, and we were able to move up to 10th wheel when we took the final turn onto Beacon St.
A small gap opened, but Glenn shifted into his 53×11 and closed it. About 600m from the finish, Jeremy came around Glenn, and towed me up to 4th or 5th wheel. I hopped off Jeremy’s wheel, up to third. The field (apparently) was pretty strung out, but I was concerned about the field swarming us, so I sat third for just a little bit, and then jumped 300m from the line. I spun out my 53×12 at 130rpm, and had about a bike length lead for all but the last 50 meters or so. Paul Curly, Master-extraordinaire, came around me, but I was able to hold off Eric Edlund from MIT for 3rd.
The clear lesson from the race is that teamwork pays off. No other team was organized in the last 5 minutes the way QuadCycles was. We had an effective three-rider train up the side of the pack to the front. It was so good, in fact, that I was worried another team would see what was up, catch my wheel, and steal the show.
When we got to the front, no other team had people working together for a result. I wouldn’t have been in the right position and well-rested without Glenn and Jeremy setting me up. Our result today was truly a team effort, that one of us alone couldn’t have achieved.
Results on VelocityResults.net
