the Superstar
06-09-2006, 04:17 PM
I estimate we had about 30 racers out, give or take. Some big guns were MIA for the first Police & Fire Games road race of the season: Helwig and Carlos out sick and Shea still injured. On the other hand, we had the re-emergence of the Throopenator after his Springbank pile up, forearm cast and all, and the course's reigning Police & Fire Games gold medallist Eric in a rare Tuesday night appearance. We also had Edward C. from champion looking stronger each week. For safety and scheduling reasons, the course was shortened by about 10 minutes to finish on the back straight, so we actually did maybe 1.8 laps in total. Here's what I saw (feel free to add):
There was a pretty straight-on head wind on the start straight and we began fairly steadily. When we got to the long, undulating hill some action started with a small break with Eric, Tony L., Graydon (a little sub par after a deadly MTB race on the weekend) and I forget who else. It didn't get very far. Then we had some countermoves and, as you would expect once we made the first right hand turn, some gutter action with the wind hard on our left shoulders. It wasn't ballistic, I would call it gutter-lite. I had discussed this possibility with Charlie during our warmup but he assured me their were plenty of other places for him to dish out the pain (my words but basically accurate). With the group still intact, we turned on to the back straight and once we hit the only major hill on that section, true to his word and with barely over one lap left, Charlie lit the afterburners. Glued to his wheel was yours truly, with Graydon and Joe T. also along for the ride. We got a good gap and immediately set to work and it was quite hard. I thought with Graydon and Charlie's pulling power the move looked good but after several km, the pack was nipping at our heels. I heard that Craig was pulling, and Kees and I don't know who else but Tony Frost and Edward and others were still there so there was lots of power to bring us back. Not long after there was a counter move with Brad Nichol in it and I could not see who else. They got a good gap and were also away for a few km. Sean Forbes sprinted out of the pack to bridge up; he was out there on his own for a good distance and came close but didn't quite make it, as the bunch closed in before the last corner of the lap. So we were all back together and while there were a few moves here and there, nothing looked as good as the last two.
Once we turned off the front straight into the side wind again, Charlie went to the front and basically stayed there for the entire 5 or 6 km ! Every once in a while he would start to slow and then he would just get out of the saddle and crank his 14 and pick it up again. Julio was on his wheel and I was 3rd and the pace was fast but comfortable but apparently it was too much for a lot of guys and the field got whittled down to maybe 12-15 guys going onto the back straight. With the tail wind sprint looming, after a couple of clicks, the action started to heat up. Charlie in particular wanted a safe sprint so he contributed to the pace. Also Craig did a lot of pulling and one other guy (who was that?), while Graydon and myself were saving it for the sprint. With about 3 km to go, some hard moves came from Julio, Tony F. and Edward (not in that order) as I recall. All were waaay too early and as we wound up the sprint, Graydon had the best position and jumped first. I was on his wheel and after we passed everyone else I pulled out to pass him but couldn't. Congrats to Graydon for an excellent victory. I think the finishing order was: Graydon, Tony, Edward, Craig and Brandon (!). Not 100% sure about 3rd to 5th place but expect the official results to be posted on the LCW website around mid-Sept.
Westhaven shut out! Look for revenge next week. Post race notes, apparently there was some confusion as to the location of the sprint with Julio, Joe and Tony F. not knowing what was going on. Sounds fishy to me.
There was a pretty straight-on head wind on the start straight and we began fairly steadily. When we got to the long, undulating hill some action started with a small break with Eric, Tony L., Graydon (a little sub par after a deadly MTB race on the weekend) and I forget who else. It didn't get very far. Then we had some countermoves and, as you would expect once we made the first right hand turn, some gutter action with the wind hard on our left shoulders. It wasn't ballistic, I would call it gutter-lite. I had discussed this possibility with Charlie during our warmup but he assured me their were plenty of other places for him to dish out the pain (my words but basically accurate). With the group still intact, we turned on to the back straight and once we hit the only major hill on that section, true to his word and with barely over one lap left, Charlie lit the afterburners. Glued to his wheel was yours truly, with Graydon and Joe T. also along for the ride. We got a good gap and immediately set to work and it was quite hard. I thought with Graydon and Charlie's pulling power the move looked good but after several km, the pack was nipping at our heels. I heard that Craig was pulling, and Kees and I don't know who else but Tony Frost and Edward and others were still there so there was lots of power to bring us back. Not long after there was a counter move with Brad Nichol in it and I could not see who else. They got a good gap and were also away for a few km. Sean Forbes sprinted out of the pack to bridge up; he was out there on his own for a good distance and came close but didn't quite make it, as the bunch closed in before the last corner of the lap. So we were all back together and while there were a few moves here and there, nothing looked as good as the last two.
Once we turned off the front straight into the side wind again, Charlie went to the front and basically stayed there for the entire 5 or 6 km ! Every once in a while he would start to slow and then he would just get out of the saddle and crank his 14 and pick it up again. Julio was on his wheel and I was 3rd and the pace was fast but comfortable but apparently it was too much for a lot of guys and the field got whittled down to maybe 12-15 guys going onto the back straight. With the tail wind sprint looming, after a couple of clicks, the action started to heat up. Charlie in particular wanted a safe sprint so he contributed to the pace. Also Craig did a lot of pulling and one other guy (who was that?), while Graydon and myself were saving it for the sprint. With about 3 km to go, some hard moves came from Julio, Tony F. and Edward (not in that order) as I recall. All were waaay too early and as we wound up the sprint, Graydon had the best position and jumped first. I was on his wheel and after we passed everyone else I pulled out to pass him but couldn't. Congrats to Graydon for an excellent victory. I think the finishing order was: Graydon, Tony, Edward, Craig and Brandon (!). Not 100% sure about 3rd to 5th place but expect the official results to be posted on the LCW website around mid-Sept.
Westhaven shut out! Look for revenge next week. Post race notes, apparently there was some confusion as to the location of the sprint with Julio, Joe and Tony F. not knowing what was going on. Sounds fishy to me.