First of all, thank you to whoever dialed up this fantastic weather; it simply could not have been a better day. Is there any better way to spend a Sunday than racin' at Marlton all day? With most of the guys doin' multiple races, this is the most spectator-friendly course you could ever find. What a day.
Reality check: We didn't do much in the way of results today; but everybody rode hard. How sweet was it seein' Pro Pedals at the front of the 1/2/3 race all day? Eric, Ryan, and Bob rode like beasts today, it was reminiscent of when Chris Samuels, Jerry Yu, Eric and Jason used to tear it up. Maybe we can get some of these guys back? Chris is "retired", Jay has been nursin' a neck problem, and Jerry has been sporadic. We'll see.
Peddler Shop got it done with wins in the 4/5 and 35+ and a coupla top tens in the 1/2/3. Also, John Nyman put in a brutal ride yesterday at Princeton for a nice 8th (or 9th?) place. He was at the front the whole race and only 30 guys (of 85) finished. Good Job!
I'll do the races in order today starting with the 4/5. We had about 60 guys starting with me, Otto, Richie, Chris, and Dirty Dave. Guys Racing had eight guys; there were no other teams with heavy numbers; I think Summit had 4 or 5 guys. The plan was to have Chris and Richie go out on any breaks with Dave savin' it for the end. I decided I was stayin' at the front the whole race or for as long as I could. The first lap was moderate, but things got fast in a hurry. To be blunt, Guys racing pretty much dominated the race from start to finish. They were constantly on the attack and had four or five guys at the front the whole race. I made good on my promise and flat out rode my balls off to stay in that top ten spot. The race was single file more often than not and never really settled down. Chris Fritz was on the attack and went off the front a few times. It was pretty much me and Chris at the front the whole race for Pro Pedals. At one point I came out of the last turn and saw the camera guy shootin' pictures. I sprung out and ran right at 'em. I better see my smilin' face on True Sport (racelistings) this week or I'm lodging a protest. I want some face-time, dammit!
So we get to around five to go and the rest of the boys are working their way to the front. I see Otto, Dirty, and catch a glimpse of a red booty turnin' a 53 X 11 at 50 rpm. Must be Richie. I'm startin' to tire, but I'm still okay. Somewhere around three to go (I think) Chris makes a move, but he can't stick it. We averaged 26.0 mph today, ya can't get away at those speeds. Somebody made the observation that Greentree runs a lot faster clockwise than it does counterclockwise and that seems to be the case. With two to go the pace is still boilin'; at the top flat before the downhill a group of five got about 50m off and I was at the front of the pack so I ended up ridin' myself blind to close it down; that was about it for me. With about 1 1/4 laps to go Dirty jumps hard and quickly gets about a 100m gap entering the last turn. I'm thinkin' "pretty ballsy move with a lap and change to go". Turns out Dave thought he was on the last lap and he was goin' for the win! Thank God he didn't throw his arms in the air; that would have been way too embarrassing. So now he's blown. That leaves me, Chris, and Dirty pretty much done.On the last lap, Drew Tindell ( an old friend) from Peddler Shop makes the move of his life. Drew's been pretty much sittin' in the whole race, he's got no team mates(they're all cat 3's, he'll be there soon), so he's watchin' and waitin'. With a half lap to go a group of five kinda rolls away on the downhill. They're about 50 m up the road. Drew slides up to the front, easily bridges to the group. The pack is in that "pre-sprint" mode, hangin' back just a bit. The group of six senses this could be it, they start to jump a bit, and all of a sudden Drew goes from pack fodder to hittin' the last turn with only one guy to beat. He goes wide, drops the hammer, and holds it to the line for the first win of his seven years of racin'. Excellent job! Drew has always been a decent sprinter; his biggest problem is gettin' to the races(you guys that know 'em know what I mean). Anyway it goes to show what a little bit of luck, the right situation, the balls to make the move, and the speed to finish it off can do. Again, nice job.
So anyway we end up with Otto in 13th (nice job, you are officially back!), Dirty in 18th, Richie 22nd, and I coasted in at the back of the pack in 38th. Speaking for myself I could not have ridden any harder. I've been riding more aggressively the past coupla races, I thing I'll tone it down a bit and save it for the end next time; maybe pull a "Drew"? Dirty, your assignment before the next race is to have Melissa ( Mrs. Dirty) work with you with some flash cards. She'll start with #20 and flick one over every 2 1/2 minutes, when the one comes up she'll ring a bell. Three or four sessions before the next race should do the trick. You guys all rode hard, we'll get 'er done next time.
The 35+ was a very fast race. We had Mark, Steve Smith, and Eric with Otto, Richie, and Dave doin' the double(did I miss anyone? Sorry if I did.) The pace ended uo around 27.0 mph, very fast. It ended in a group sprint with Big Shawn Teske from Peddler's Shop takin' the win; makin' it two in a row for Peddler's. The rest of our boys finished in the pack. The women were up next, we had nobody in there. Looked like Trish Carnilia got first or second and Carol Lanza ( who used to ride for us) was in the pack.
I was up for race number two, the 45+. Yeah, I know what you're thinkin' "what a stud". You're all right of course. It was me, Mark, Bob, and Dennis. Me and Mark were pretty cooked, Bob looked like he was savin' something for the 1/2/3; Dennis was fresh. The Master's races are known for being smooth and this one was no exception. I thought this race was a hair slow ( I was right, we averaged 24.9 mph) and it was definitely smooth. There were the usual attacks and at one point Chuck Carnila was away. That usually means he's gone, he's won literally hundreds of races. But he got reeled in. Bob made one go of it, but couldn't make it stick. After that he seemed to decide to save himself for the 1/2/3. I surprisingly started to feel pretty good near the end. I kept waiting for the "big attack", but it never came. I was trying to get in position to lead-out Mark or Dennis. Dennis had already maneuvered himself too far ahead of me and Mark seemed burnt from the 35+. Bob sat back and stayed out of trouble. So Dennis and I picked up some table scraps for 15th and 20th place with Mark in 28th and Bob pinnin' on his 1/2/3 number as he crossed the line.
The 1/2/3 race was a blast to watch. The whole race was stamped with attacks and breakaways. I told Ryan to go if Jonathan Erdyli went. And he did. There was a five man early break that stayed away for 4 or 5 laps with Ryan and Jon in it. They got caught. Greg Ferguson was driving another five man break. They got caught. Eric got away in a break that looked promising. Ryan and Bob did an excellent job of blocking to the point where Ideal Tile was gettin' piss'ed. Screw them! Of cousre they started chasin' and eventually it all came back together. A group of five got away with 5 or 6 to go and it looked like they might stick it. With two to go Ryan made a ballistic move off the front and shot across the gap. The field responded and the whole thing came together. Except for two guys who shot off the front. On the bell lap they had about 500m, it looked like they might be able to stick it. But never under-estimate the speed of a 1/2/3 field. As the pace car came around the final corner it was all together. Almost! Somebody (Beacon?) went down and took out Ryan, Erdyli, and three or four other guys. This slowed the field just enough for the two man break to stick it.Ryan did not appear seriously hurt, his luck needs to take a turn for the better (it will). He was strong enough to run at the front all day and had a real shot at the win. Peddler shop had Big Shawn and Keith in at 6th and 7th.
Adding Ryan to the mix in 1/2/3 seems to have given Eric and Bob a shot in the arm. The three of 'em looked real strong today and did more than hold their own; they looked good! Real solid team racing, well done. And Ryan, hang in there; you're gonna stick one of these real soon.
So nobody dogged it today; good effort in some kick-ass races. It just didn't work out. Remember, last week we owned the cat 4 race; we'll get 'em next time!
Until next week, your "from the saddle and flat-out blown" reporter,
The Captain
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