Another Great Weekend at the SIP!

This was week #2 of the Scarborough Criterium Series, and large fields lined up for both the women's race and men's "A" race.  Once again, Base36 won both races! 

Cody and Teresa lined up with the women's field where Cody continued her dominance by crushing the field in a massive sprint again.  Teresa had a super solid ride to finish 6th and in the points.  Nice job ladies!  Hopefully Jen will be lining up with them next week.

Several of us lined up for the Men's "A" race:  Dan V., Me, Jamey, Jamie, Ryan, and Dave were there to mix it up.  Orthopaedic Associates were sending attacks as usual, and the team was doing a good job of covering them.  About 1/3 of the way through the race, a break of 4 (including Dan) stuck.  Dan ended up taking the win with Bob, attack on Commercial Street, Baiguy taking 2nd.  Several of us tried to bridge once they had about a minute on the field, but we couldn't close the gap, so I decided to sit in and sprint it out against the field for 5th place.  I was able to get a good jump on the field and take the sprint.

All in all, another great weekend.  I still sit in first for the overall points, with Dan a close second.  I am sure he will fly past me next week!  Cody stands in first place overall for the women, and it is doubtful that anyone will catch her.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Winner, Winner, Chicken... Awww Man!

I showed up this morning to do the Myles Standish State Park Crit in Plymouth, MA. I was one of the last to preregister for the 35+ Cat 5 field. It was nice, sunny weather this morning so I'm sure our field was full. Temps were around 50F and the wind was blowing. There was between a 15 and 20 mph wind!

The only change to the typical course was that it was shortened by about .25 miles and this change made a lollipop course. There was one section of the normal course that was covered in water. This tended to complicate things later on, but we'll get to that later. We rolled out easy enough. The senior field was not too excited to get out and hammer, so we had a nice warm-up. I drank every 10 minutes and stayed right around 10 to 15 riders back. On the hill section, I stayed off to the side of everyone else and climbed at my own pace, though I slowed up from time to time to stay in my mid-pack position and out of the wind. The long, fast false flat and down-hill section were pretty neutral by the stiff head wind. Dixon had given me some excellent info on the course and where to be for the end, so about half way through, I rode the line that I decided I wanted to be in for the last mile of the race. Turned out to be in the wind a bit, so I only rode it once. The race stayed fairly easy, though it picked up, of course, on the last lap. I found myself, again, having to back off just a little to not be out in the headwind. On the top of the hill, the strong men kicked and I went with them. I made the turn at the top of the hill about 10th, still in good position. Dixon told me at the top of the false flat, the top 5 would finish top 5 because of the fast downhill run. I worked hard and was about 8th at the false flat. That's right where I wanted to be because of the strong headwind. As we came down the hill, the guys in front were dying. I turned back onto the lollipop section in my 53x11 spinning smoothly in about 5th place and still gaining on the front few. There was a little rise and a guy touched wheels at about 4th position. He went down in front of me! It would have been nice to have ridden that section a few times.

My first thought was, "Crap, now guys are going to fly past me as I have to brake!" Then I realized I still had to try not to crash. I avoided the bike, but since locking up my rear wheel, I lost control. Luckily, I guided the bike to the right shoulder which was all pine needles. After a crash at 35mph, there was no damage to my bike and only a skinned knee to myself. Whew!

I can't imagine how a crash happened 200M from the finish. What bad luck! However, I'm happy to be uninjured. I was also happy to get my upgrade to Cat 4 after the finish. I look forward to some good Masters' racing. Hopefully, safer rides will ensue!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Well, today was the first race of the Scarborough Criterium Series - and my first race of the season.  The unseasonably warm weather brought out large fields of racers for each race.  Base36 was represented in the juniors field by my son Jake, and his team mates Chris, and Owen.  The women's field only had one Base36 rider, Cody Harris (a.k.a The Terminator).  The men's A race had Jamie Wright, Dan Vaillencourt, and me lining up at the start.


The junior's race came apart and Chris was able to jump across to the women who started 1 minute before his field.  Jake was chasing close behind, and Owen was a little further back.  All three juniors worked hard and raced well - finishing 1,2,3 for the day!

The women's field came down to a bunch sprint for the finish after some fast laps.  Cody threw down a monster sprint and easily took the win.  Nice job Cody!

The men's A race was filled with attacks from the first lap, with Orthopaedic Associates working on softening up the field.  The Base36ers were represented in several of the more serious attacks and Dan and Jamie were active at the front throughout the race.  I went with a couple of attacks early, then decided to conserve for the sprint when it looked like it was going to be tough for anything to stick.  I threw down an early, long sprint because I haven't developed my mid-season snap yet - luckily, I was able to hold everyone off for the win.  It was a great way to start the season!

All in all, it was a great day for Base36, winning all of the races they entered!  I am sure this is only the first of many successful races this season.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Charge Pond TRAINING Race

I did my 3rd training race at Charge Pond in Plymouth, MA on Saturday. I had fun, worked hard, and stayed upright. I think this time of year those are the things that are most important. I've had to remind myself of these early season goals. It seems whenever you get back from a race that you went to alone, the inevitable question is, "How'd you do? Did you win?". I usually respond, "No, but I worked hard, stayed up front and didn't crash!" Probably like most people that race, I have great aspirations. However, it's also barely April, I work hard at balancing my business, family, and riding, and I've definitely NOT "peaked" for any race yet. Most of all, I look forward to racing with Base36 this summer in full kit and in support of the strongest rider of the day.