8/9/05 by Douglas Williams
Whoever said Ohio was flat demonstrates an aire of ignorance. A beautiful day spurred massive turn out in attendance at this Ohio's one-day-classic. The 3/4 field sported over 70 racers, and I use the word racer because it quickly became apparent that most of the "once a year cat 4 riders" skip this race due to the demanding course. Summit Freewheelers/Allied Decal brough 12 or so the starting line. The cat 5 citizens also sported a healthy turnout of 60+. The cat 3/4 race consisted of 40 miles around a 10 mile course. Two hills nestled in the middle of the course were enought to test just about everyone. Before the race, Chris Boros (Allied Decal) gave me the scoop on the hills. He said, nothing to extreme. DUDE..I'm not worthy to follow your wheel if at the end of that race you can't say that the hills at least tested you a tiny bit. First Lap: I'm riding along in the peleton....averaging about 30mph and then we start to go uphill. I think to myself, ok people are going to chose a manageable pace given we still have 35+ miles to go. I was wrong. I top the hill above my anaerobic threshold. Glancing back, I was relieved to see that I wasn't the only one put under pressure, nearly half the peleton was gone. A back stretch of about 2 miles with the consistent downhill grade allowed most of those who cleared the top within 30 secs of the leaders to catch back up. Note to self, next time around, don't kill myself as the back stretch provides ample opportunity to regain contact with the leaders by taking advantage of a draft and a downhill grade. Mile 7 or so turned us back towards the final hill climb. This final hill of about 200 vertical feet was a two stage hill where the final 30 yards pitch to a 15% grade. The descent down the other was a 2 mile stretch which, similiar to the previous hill, allowed riders to catch back up with the peleton.
By the end of the first lap, the lead peleton had winnowed to 30 + riders. Allied Decal/SummitFreewheeler still had a solid showing with Jimmy MacDonald, Steve Crominati, Brian Ramsey, Jim Mullins, Ted Ingraham, David Schneider and myself. (Apologies if I missed anyone, i was breathing through my eyeballs). Going into the second lap, a few riders attempted to muster a break away but given the rolling hills these were unsuccessful and were eventually brought back. The riders at the front, an eclectic group of riders kept the pace high as the laps counted down.
Entering into the final lap, Jimmy MacDonald stepped on the gas and attempted to bridge up to a set of 2 breakaway riders. Brian Ramsey and myself saw the move and moved up into the front of the peleton to attempt to disrupt the flow during the chase. Nice try Jimmy, but the peleton just didn't want to let you get away. Turning the corner into the final climb, the peleton of caught Jimmy and the other isolated breakaway riders.
Charging up the final hill, I saw Brian Ramsey and Steve Crominati come around me with a decent cadence. I'm thinking to myself, this is good. Brian and Steve crest the top about 5 to 10 secs behind the leader, I'm another 10 secs behind them. Surprisingly, as I crest the hill, I see that the lead group had not dropped the pedal as I would have thought. Those strung out begin to catch back up taking advantage of drafting downhill. With about 500m to go, the gangle has reformed into a peleton ready for the final sprint. Steve takes the right side of the peleton, whereas Brian and I move to the right. Charging along at 30 + mph, I quickly begin to outspin my gears. The peleton spreads out taking both lanes and a sprint-out evolves. To the best of my recollection, it didn't seem as if any team tactics came to play from competitors, probably due to the difficulty of a downhill lead out. According to the published results, the Allied Decal team garnered 4 places in the top 20 placing between 12 and 20, with the same time as the winner.
Tactics for Next Year: As a participant, this race demands you prepare for some hills. As a team, we need to expect that the race will likely come down to a final sprint. Next year, we should pre-identify a protected rider or two. Keep them fresh for the final hill. Furthermore, we should quickly inventory upon cresting the final ascent, who is available to help bring the protected riders across the line. A mini pace line of three riders with the protected rider in tow can quickly bridge even a 15 sec or so deficit on the descent with time to set them up for the final sprint. We need to get better at this as a team. We had more team members in the final sprint then any othe team yet we were unable to garnish anyone in the top 5. Disappointing I'm sure you will agree.