05/27/02 by Angelo Catalano
I had been looking forward to this race for some time. Shawn Adams and I raced the Mid-Atlantic RR Champs. in Wilkesville earlier in the month and had very solid races (Shawn finished 5th). Shawn and Al Paszt both also had decent races at Chippewa Creek. The State RR was a road race where we felt the course suited us, and we were racing it together as a team. So we began to focus on and ride the Quick course regularly because we knew some of the local teams had strong men that would surely try to break the field up.
Lake Effect, Orrville, Tri-Tech, Savage Hill and SFW were the larger teams in the field. Surprisingly, the first lap was somewhat tame. The usually Lake Effect strategy was in, well, effect. They put 2 guys on the front to set a strong tempo on lap one. As we approached the climb on Quick, LE strong man Zak Deringer moved to the front and I followed. However, no attacks on the steep of Quick, which Shawn, Al and I had planned for.
The tempo remained strong as Lake Effect continued to do the lion's share of the work in the rollers on Quick. As the field approach Haas/Wetmore on lap 2, I could see Zach itching to make a move. Sure enough he went after the turn onto Haas and I was ready. We put a large gap on the field, but once we got into the rollers on Wetmore, we were absorbed by the field. I was hoping to rest a little in the rollers on the back stretch, but the attack by Zach and me awakened Jeremy Grim of Orrville. He moved out to the front and pushed the pace hard on the rest of the rollers and down to Riverview. A small group started to gap me, with the field close behind, but I was glad to see Al and Shawn up with it. Everything was brought together as we approached the climb. But Zak and a Savage Hill guy hammered the steep part and really broke things up. I had to go around a lot of people and fly up to them for fear of them taking advantage of the chaos behind them on the hill. I still needed to recover, but the pace remained really tough for the rest of the lap. Then Jeremy and Zak made a move, which Al brilliantly covered. The three looked fast and were putting a larger and larger gap on the field. Orville and LE moved to the front to block and I was there too. However, Savage Hill and Tri-Tech wanted in the break bad. So after a few huge pulls by Savage Hill and Tri-Tech, the break was caught on Wetmore around the stables. Shawn knew the counter-attacks were coming and was able to cover them. Nothing substantial came of the counter attacks, other than a blistering pace down Wetmore.
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