Thursday, April 26, 2012

Myles Standish State Park Road Race

The day started with super comfy beds, too many fluffy pillows and egg sandwiches convient enough for the fastest of truckers.  We tugged ourselves out of the hotel, reloaded the car and make a quick jaunt down the road to the Myles Standish State Forest, the hosting ground for what would usually be a cold early season race.
Because many others had taken it upon themselves to conquer the mighty Battenkill the day before, fields would be small and the roads would be open for matches to be burned, cards to be played, and bikes to be raced.  We arrived in the park and quickly did a recon of the five mile course which allowed us to see where winds were coming from and the best places to attack and best places to sit in and recover (if needed).
By the time my race came around, the temperature had risen to about 70 degrees, making the Blindato Flamebrocation I had put on to stay warm earlier in the day, somewhat irrelevant, but it was still a nice feeling during the race.  The race would be 5, five mile laps around the park, with full road.  This was especially nice on the twisty and turny sections of the course next to the ponds where racers could B-line from one turn to the next.
The race itself was fast pace, with break aways on every lap, and a chases to follow.  There were enough racers that some teams were able to send flyers up the road and block until the break returned, only to send another up the road.  For me, the race was odd, there were riders who the pack would let away, but on every attack I made to pull away, 4+ riders would be on my wheel, and on them would be the rest of the peleton, making it frustratingly hard to get away.  I was able to ride strong through the whole race, regardless of an abnormally high heart rate between 160-175 throughout the duration of the race.  The race came down to bridging a breakaway in the final Kilometer, however, riders from the break still topped out the results and dominated the downhill finishing sprint.  The peleton was able to bridge just after the final descent, but not completely overtake the break into the finish.  Earlier in the lap I had made an effort to bridge and had not recovered in time for the final sprint.  That said, I was able to put in a massive effort and slingshot myself up the right side of the road to finish in 6th place, a top result for the season so far.
Overall things to remember for future races, stay out of the wind, let other people work, and attack from the back if you want to bust some NUTS.  In any case, the future races look promising... Next on the list is Quabbin Road Race, in Ware, MA.

Arc hard, ride fast, go plaid!