Ohio Valley Spring Series - Mt. Carmel

A perspective from the front of the race:

I attacked 3x in 1 mile stretch of road.. Hoping to secure a break to neutralize the field for our leaders. Well, the first break away ended up being the winning break for the second weekend in row for Savage Hill. So for all those doubters out there about attacking early in race... you have been proven wrong again. The story goes: I applied about 70% effort into the break while all long hoping Savage Hill would bridge up and bring Will or Woody. The 3rd time up the climb Glen (Cyclosport) began to crack towards the top of the long climb and I just increased my tempo a little bit and he popped off my wheel and then I acclerated to consoildate my gap to him. I marked his gap at the beginning of the 4th lap to be 1:30. With one lap to go I figured the main group was probably all broken up and there was no point in waiting for others to bridge up. So I buried the last lap in my big ring the whole time and it was my quickest lap for the whole race (53x13 on the backside of the course and 53x17-19 up the climb). Used my big ring up the climb the last time and caught at least 8 cat 1/2/3 on that climb alone. I ended up with a 2:45 gap to Will and he was 20 seconds ahead of the remainder of his chase group. My plan was to never win the race. I only wanted to use this race as training and just give myself a good workout. You can't approach every race and take care of yourself. We must all work as a team and everyone prospers.

The race started off quickly with a few surges/attacks from SHC. After about 3 miles, Rob got himself off the front. The move was covered by Glen from Cycle Sport and that's the last we saw of Rob - who eventually dropped Glen and soloed in for the win after 52 miles off the front. Rob has promised to race 1-2-3 in future Cincinnati series races after single-handedly killing this race.

Now, removing Rob from the picture, here's how the rest of the race unfolded:

The course today was deceptively difficult. The wind was brutal and was conveniently oriented to blow right down the only notable climb on the course. After the hill, the course continued for 3 miles into a tough cross/headwind all the way along the finishing stretch to the finish line. The temperature of 29 degrees at start time seemed to sharpen the bite of the wind. This was definitely a race for the hearty and tough-skinned racer. Yet, despite the harsh conditions, 52 riders left the safety of their warm basements and their winter roller workouts, put on every piece of cycling clothing they owned, and showed up at the start line to test their legs in the 3/4 race.

Although Rob effectively rode his own race today, his move did help SHC because it took pressure off the team to do anything early in the race. We spent the early parts of the race sitting in the pack while people wore themselves down with little surges and disorganized chases. Eventually, when it was clear that Rob was away safely, Woody made the next move. He attacked after the 2nd climb. He was alone for almost a half lap. The move drew more disorganized chasing from the field and eventually a counter attack from Airborne and Unizan - which bridged up to Woody. But the move didn't stick and soon after woody was caught by the counter attack, everything came back together in one big clump of very tired riders.

No that the field was worn down, it was time to start the real attacks. Everyone was sitting up, taking a drink, assessing their fitness and hoping that it wouldn't get hard any more. By contrast, up to this point I had been sitting in (as per the pre-race plan), so I was perfectly fresh. I asked Paletti for some space, moved up to the right side, and threw down a minor tester attack to see if anyone was paying attention. The move drew an immediate reaction from the field which surprised me. So I tucked back in and waited another mile for the hill. On the hill I made my real move. I dropped the hammer about 1/3 of the way up. This time there was no reaction from the field and I immediately had a large gap. I popped over the top and started to fight into the headwind. Finally there was a reaction from the field. About 10 guys, including Todd, jumped up to join me. I didn't like the makeup of the break at all. There were too many people. So I sat on the back and yelled to Todd not to work. This demoralized the group and effectively killed the break. Meanwhile the remnants of the field were clawing their way back on from behind. Without even thinking much about it, I went to the front and put in an acceleration. Surprisingly, I got another gap. This turned out to be the winning move. Four guys joined me and we started pulling away from the field. After a putting up a good chase, the field finally gave up we were worked our way out of site.

We caught Glen (who had been dropped by Rob earlier) and he reported that Rob was safely away for the win. Meanwhile people started to skip pulls in the break. Myself, Dale from Cycle Sport, and Jay from Airborne were now the only people that were working the break. I did a little yelling and some encouraging to get the last once of work out of the two that were sitting on. Then after a few surges and attacks, the break was down to three. By this time it was clear that Dale was done (but to his credit, he never missed a pull). I still wasn't sure what Jay had left. I coaxed Jay to the front to lead into the final climb. Once on the climb I took the lead and kept the pace moderate. Jay and Dale fell back a few feet. Once I saw this, I clicked up a gear and pushed the pace hard. I had a huge gap by the top.

Now it was time to suffer for 3 miles. I just put my head down and killed it into the wind. I felt like I was barely moving. I could see Dale and Jay chasing, but they weren't making up ground quickly enough. I just keep hammering knowing the finish was only a few miles away. After what seemed like an eternity, I crossed the line for 2nd place. Dale and Jay came across shortly afterwards for 3rd and 4th.

Meanwhile, back in the pack. Todd, Woody, and Larry who had kept things under control while I was away finally turned up the heat over the last climb and into the headwind, reeling in the remnants of the break. They drove the final stretch hard with the remnants of the field - about 10 people - in tow. Woody led Todd out for the field sprint win (5th overall) and then held on for 6th overall.

This race was a perfect illustration of teamwork. The only reason I was able to drive away from the break and solo for 2nd place was because of all the work the team did for me earlier. Everyone in my break had used lots of energy chasing and reacting to things our team was doing. By contrast I was tucked safely away in the field for the first 2/3 of the race and was essentially fresh. This made my job a lot easier at the end. So just remember, everything we do counts. All those attacks that seem to go nowhere, all those breaks that eventually get caught, they are all critical parts of the race. While those efforts early in the race do not pay dividends for the riders that execute them, they do pay big dividends for the team. And we win and lose as a team, not individuals. So Rob's 1st place and my 2nd place today go to the team. We could not do it without everyone's help.

Well, Will gave the rundown on the race and the course. The couse was wedge shaped with the blunt end heading Eastward after the first turn. It was too cold for any kind of warmup. The race started out at a brisk pace and I quickly worked my way up near the front of the field. I was determined to stay up there as much as possible. After making the second turn I felt the effect of the quick start and the lack of warm-up. It turned out I would have difficulty on this corner for the remainder of the race as the field would quickly sprint out of it and stretch out along the left hand side of the road in the crosswind. No matter where I positioned myself here I would get shelled on each lap. Of note on the first lap was riding near the front with Will and some other riders. As Rob distanced himself from the pack, one of the guys made a crack about the futility of it. He must not have raced the previous week. I remarked that sometimes the crazy moves win races and Will said something about it maybe being a team effort. The guy responded with something to the effect of "Teamwork, in a CAT 3 race?" Funny thing is that he was on one of the other prominent local teams. We didn't say anything.
The rest of the lap and the following was a bit of a blur. I stayed close to the front as much as possible and got shelled on the climb and the crosswind.
The third lap was were things began to happen. I was beat and apparantly so was at least half the field. On the gradual part of the climb someone got sloppy right in front of me and next thing he was obviously heading for a fall. By some alignment of the planets he launched into the ditch (which looked a lot softer than the road) instead of into the field. He was the only casualty. After this I found myself at the front of the pack along with a few of the green team (Can't remember the name.) We were still trying to help out Rob's break so I proceeded to work the number one and two spot along with the green guys. They weren't setting any blistering pace so I just kept them doing about the same. Going into the climb I stayed in the front holding the field at around 13-14 mph. No one was coming around, even at that speed but I knew a lot of people were getting a good rest while I was in the wind. Finally near the second part of the climb Will took off along with a small chase group. I dropped back in the field as the field tried to react but there was a decisive break going on by this point.

Sometime after this, the next big split occurred. Once again, I found myself right behind a mishap. This time someone unexplicably moved into and tangled with a Sobe rider right in front of me. In that second or two which seems to take an eternity he found himself without a bike and the Sobe guy was still upright dragging along the other bike with him. I passed on the right between him and the disembodied bike when he began falling over towards me. I graciously held him up with my left hand while I proceeded to get the hell out of there. The pack reacted to the sound of a crash by launching an attack. I was gapped at this point without a lot of energy left. By the time I rounded turn one for the final lap I realized I was by myself with what seemed to be an insurmountable gap on what was left of the field. I worked it but I was losing ground. A this point I was resigned to a long solo finish lap when the Sobe guy came around me at a brisk pace. I grabbed his wheel and followed until he finally slowed and moved over. I recovered enough to put in an effort and we began to gain ground on Woody and Steve who had fallen off a little bit as well. We still had a good gap and the field was heading into my favorite turn. It was then that I saw a vision of Chris Fisher. It was brief, but I heard him say "Larry, Ass to pedals." So I did, and we got back on with Woody, Steve, Sobe and me. Woody and Steve were working hard to get on the small remainder of a field in front of us. To my amazement I recovered quickly and was able to help the group bridge. So now it was us four, Todd, four green guys, Airborne (John?) and maybe another rider or two. Todd tried to get us to open up gaps but nothing worked too well on the remainder of the fast back side of the course.

After the turn there was a brief letup as everyone recovered, ate and what have you. Todd kept trying to get us to open up gaps and it may have worked a little. When we hit the climb I was still working on opening a gap when I finally looked back and saw that several riders had dropped and I was last. Seeing that I was only gapping myself I jumped back on. At the top of the hill things got fun. Todd managed to get the green guys working with Woody and me in a rotating paceline. We had a good pace going but they kept pulling through while Todd was resting in a nice pocket. Any time the paceline gapped I jumped in and took an aditional pull. Finally the other two got wise and sat out but Woody and I kept it going. I knew I wasn't good for anything in the sprint so I kept taking as hard of a pull as I could to protect Woody. At last Woody came around strong and everyone went hard except for me, I was done. We were within 1K of the finish and there was no one near me front or back so I sat up and watched the show. When they headed into the final rise, Woody and Todd were way out in front of the remaining field. I laughed my way to the finish.

Lucky to have survived to the finish line. Whew!!! Never been so glad to see the line. Need more miles in my legs for sure.
What planet is Rob from anyway?
Way to go Will, Todd, Woody and Larry. Ryan you're awesome!