Coming to an end

Last weekend marked the "official" end to my 2009 road season. I raced the P12 criterium in Portsmouth, NH - it was super-fast and my tired legs suffered greatly. Ben Forbes put in a spectacular performance in the category 3 race, almost pulling off a break-away win with 3 other riders. He gave the team a ton of press time. Nice job Ben! My son, Jake, did the 10-12 year old kids race because there wasn't a junior field - he crushed the competition, but only a handful of racers were hard-core. Regardless, winner-winner-chicken-dinner! Nice Work!

The previous day was the Saco Bay criterium in Biddeford, ME. I drove the pace car instead of racing, but Ben, Chad, and Ryan lined up with the category 3 racers while Jamey Jones raced in the category 4 race and the master's 35+ field. Jamey ended up with a top 10 finish and Ben ended up with a podium spot - it was awesome to watch.

At the same race, Jake lined up with the Junior field which included racers between 10 and 17. A break of 5 racers broke away in the first lap and Jake was attentive enough to make the separation. After a few laps two of the stronger riders attacked the group of 5 and got away. Jake knew he couldn't hang with the pace that the oldest rider was putting down, so he wisely stayed back and worked in the chase group of 3. A few laps later, Jake and Chris attached the remaining rider in their group and brought it down to 2. The 2 continued to work well together trading pulls until the last lap. Chris attacked with 1/2 lap to go and Jake couldn't close it down before the finish, so he ended up 4th overall, but 3rd in the 10-14 category. I couldn't have been more proud. He raced smartly on a very difficult course against more experienced riders. Nice job man!

Now that the season is over, I will start to cut back on the training and enjoy a bit of family time and relaxation - and cyclocross...

Thanks for reading.