May 1st, 2005 by Phil Esempio - Allied Decals Race Team
Wilkesville.... the very mention of this course causes groans usually heard only when other hilly courses such as Murrysville, or Savage Hill, are mentioned. This year, the State Road Race Championships will be held there; that, coupled with the fact that near-freezing temps and rain forced me out of this race last year, motivated me to make the trip down there again this year.
The course consists of 3 loops, of which only the first 2 are used in the Category 4/5 race, for a total of 53 miles. Competing in the 4/5 race for Allied Decals were Ben Kuhlman, and myself. The weather was pretty nice, especially compared to last year's epic conditions; it was sunny, and a little on the cool side (around 60° F) perfect for a hilly road race. Throughout the race, there was a terrible wind that seemed to be in our face or as a crosswind all the time, and this kept the pace reasonably slow at first. 18 riders started the 4/5 race. Right off the bat, a rider took a flyer off the front; everyone let him go, and sure enough, in the first set of hills, we reeled him back in pretty easily. After this, Ben and I were on the front a lot, driving the pace pretty good and stringing out the field, although we weren't working terribly hard, but it kept the attacks to a minimum, and dropped more than a few riders off the back. I launched one attack myself going downhill into a heavy roller; I didn't intend for it to stick, but riders were starting to hurt, and the field was thinning out some. We were up to an average of over 23 mph at one point, which with the wind and the hills was pretty fast for this group. As we came back through town to head out on the second loop after 25 miles, the field was thinned down to 12 riders.
The second loop was where things got interesting. We caught the women's field on the first major climb, and then descended to the notorious highway section of the course. Two women and one master had jumped into our group, and we lost one from our group. Turning onto the highway, the hammer got dropped, and dropped hard. Despite the heavy winds, we were flying along at 45 mph down this road. Turning off the highway, we were back in the hills immediately. Here, we lost the two women that were hanging on with us, although the one master stayed on. While Ben had no issues staying with the field here, I was struggling on the climbs some. But, knowing how hard the wind was blowing, and how many miles were left to go, I decided not to redline myself staying with the field; instead, I spun in my 39x27, maintained contact, and bridged up to them each time. What was happening was, they would gap me slightly, and I once I found my rhythm on the hill, the gap would stay constant; this allowed me to bridge up each time. Once I almost didn't make it...there was a wicked headwind, and I had to dig pretty deep to close up the gap, but I pulled it off. I ended up having to bridge 4 times total. There was one big guy from Bike Source who kept attacking the field, but they kept reeling him in - no one would go with him, and he didn't look very strong out there by himself. After the last time I bridged, there were only 10 of us left in the field. Ben was still near the front, and with about 6 miles to go, he took off. Bike Source went with him, and they got a good gap - before anyone could react, they were about a quarter mile up the road. Left in the field were myself, two guys from Godspeed/Subway, two independents who were working together, and three other riders with nothing left in the tank that were barely hanging on. With 3 miles to go, the Godspeed boys got on the front and started to hammer, along with the two independents. Well, I said to myself, here was my chance to contribute. I got into their paceline, but refused to work; I kept doing short pulls, soft-pedaling, and sitting up, which had the net effect of destroying any rhythm they tried to establish. I could see we were closing up on Ben and Bike Source; I could also see now that Ben was doing about 75% of the work - Bike Source was cooked, but still trying to help. Godspeed tried to drop me by attacking; but I was too strong, and stayed on their wheel, and the effort of their attacks was hurting them, allowing me to get back on the front and soft-pedal some more. With less than a mile to go, the gap was down to about 300 meters; the two independents tried once more to attack me, but I got between them and stayed on the stronger one's wheel; when he pulled off, I pulled up even with him and sat up. He looked over at me and yelled, "Why don't you work?", to which I responded, "That's my teammate up the road!" He was obviously frustrated, and said to me "Then get off my wheel!" to which I just smiled...seeing his face I could tell how badly he was hurt. Finally, coming over the last rise, I could see the red roofs of Wilkesville...and I knew Ben was safe! He beat out Bike Source easily for the win.... I couldn't hang on the sprint to the finish when they jumped me, but I knew I had a top-10 finish sewn up, so I didn't sweat it too much - my legs were fried from all the );:^ chasing I did! After the race, both the independent riders as well as the Godspeed riders, complimented me on our tactics. Ben told me that every time he looked back, he could tell we were closer, but he could also see me sitting up on the front of the field or soft-pedaling, and that inspired him to keep pushing hard to stay away. Chalk up a big win for the Allied Decals Race Team!
On a side note, Ed Delgros took 3rd in the 65-mile-long 3/4 race, finishing 2nd in the field sprint; Mike Stubna of Savage Hill had launched an attack on Hock Station, and stayed away for the win. Ed made up for his first non-winning finish in 5 races by launching an attack on the roof of the local drive-thru in New Philadelphia, showing the clerk his "special Navy shoes", and then absconding with a 40 oz. victory beer. Cheers Ed!