4/23/05 by Allied Decal Cycling Team
Well, after 8 consecutive RATL's with good weather, we were due for a nasty one..and we got it. Race time weather was 44° F, light rain, and 20 mph winds out of the N/NW, with gust occasionally stronger. Not the best day to be racing. The Cat 4 field was small—only 10 or 11 racers—but as is typical on a day like this, it was mostly the hardcore riders who showed. Brian Ramsey and myself represented the Allied Decals team, along with Micah Zakem from the Freewheelers; both Brian and I felt the biggest threat would come from Ryan Williams, a junior Cat 4 who has been tearing up the Cat 4 races all spring. The course was wet but still rideable, and kudos to to the Monroe Falls Metropark crew who did their best to take the excess water off the course before the first race.
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Sure enough, from the very start of the race Ryan started attacking. Brian covered the first attack, which strung out the field; I covered the second one, which came as we were heading up the hill on the back side; and on the third attack, Brian covered but the field came completely apart. Ryan, Brian and two other riders pulled away from myself and a guy from Mercyhurst; they simply got the jump on me and I could not close the gap. On the next lap they dropped Brian as well; I dropped the Mercyhurst guy and saw Brian sitting up and waiting for me as I went up the hill.
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We paired off and worked together for the rest of the race; for a few laps we pushed quite hard, but could not seem to close the gap at all - the three up front were really flying. Still, we kept up a consistent pace and took turns pulling each other up the hill; a nasty quartering headwind made the descent to the start finish an effort as well, and a bit dicey with all the standing water. We eased our pace slightly when it became obvious that not only weren't we going to catch the 3 leaders, but that we had lapped the entire rest of the field!
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On the last lap, Brian attacked me on the hill, right were I was expecting him too; but I couldn't match his climb and got gapped immediately. On the descent I made up about half the time I'd lost but the crosswind made it difficult go as fast as I wanted to...going into the last turn it was obvious I was beat, and I sat up and took an easy 5th to Brian's well earned 4th. As it turned out, the 3 leaders had lapped the entire field except for us. We're going to have watch those three during the rest of the series.
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Phil Esempio
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Getting there a bit late, I wasn't dressed for the cold, nor prepared for the strategy.
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Being cold, I was happy to ride a nice tempo towards the front where I wouldn't have to worry about anyone wiping out on the wet course. I wanted to go a bit harder, but I didn't feel like I had enough acceleration to get away from anyone. There were a couple guys who were pretty happy to suck up the slush from my wheel, who I feared would have the last laugh when they left me for dead after I did my work.
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Several times I sat up, no hands, looking back, trying to say "I am tired", and encourage someone to pull. I suppose I was just too numb and wanted to get the race over with, to really think and come up with a plan.
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When George came around, his acceleration was intimidating. Prior to the last hill, he flew by me, and that was just the wake up call I needed to realize its time to finish this. Near the top of the hill, 2 or 3 others (non teammates) flew past me just as fast. I thought, in slow motion, that that was probably the winning move.
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I managed to get back up with them somewhere around the final corner. I am not sure what happened then. I didn't even know where the line was my glasses were so fogged up.
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I am looking forward to reading others reports (I was too numb to see what was going on) and be prepared before next week. It was great to have so many teammates out there in those conditions. With that spirit, I think we can really do well together.
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Though I wasn't really happy with how things went, I was relieved it was a safe race and honored, as a rookie, to earn some points for Allied Decals.
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Ed Delgros