04/13/03 by Angelo Catalano
Yesterday's race was good. After the first lap things started to heat up on the rollers in the back section. Paul M., Tris, and another rider got a gap and I caught on, but I was nearly at my limit. So anyway after we got caught another gap formed and I couldn't bridge it, and was reeled in so I decided to spend the rest of the morning tucked into the field. There was a lot more horsepower in this race than the Hueston Woods race. Mullins and Gilmore spent the the next lap and a half covering the Go-Mart attacks and counters. After that Allied was pretty much along for the ride. I don't think any escapees put more than a 45 sec gap on the field.
On the last lap, Jim G and I moved our way to the front, thinking Mullins and George were in tow. After we turned on Ira, Jim G and I were like in the top ten... a few guys attacked and it started breaking up. I saw Ernie and Tris increasing the tempo, and I went around Jim G to get on Tris' wheel. Those two I believe were blocking a bit, but they had enough tempo to stay up front and maybe they pulled us away. Anyway I was in the top ten from the school to Ira/Oak Hill and Chernowsky made a move, I got on his wheel, at the farm he dove around some determined B rider or blown A rider and I made a bad choice in altering my position, lost ground and rhythm. I finished from 12th to 15th and George was about 2 back on the other side of the bottle neck, errr finishing straight.
We were fortunate that the field was inspired enough to pull back the battling PRO and ex-PROs, cause I don't think I would have fininshed had I continued to duke it out with the big boys, but maybe in a month or so. I don't know why Jim G. didn't follow me off the front, but thanks for the ride to the front. Allied Decals Cycling Team is clicking w/o even having to speak in the peloton. It's exciting to just sense what your teammates are anticipating doing without hesitation or worry.