I decided to make the long drive up to Williston, Vermont on Sunday with
Jan and Baby Ella in tow. The race seemed like it would provide some solid
training with a hilly profile and slightly longer duration (50 min) than
a typical “B” race. I was excited too, to test our new family travel tactics.
Three hours each way, in the car, with a hungry two week old seemed more
a challenge that the race itself. Luckily we found some picturesque pit
stops for diaper changes and feedings. Also, with the Elite race requiring
participants to hold a UCI license, I would be able to scope out some of
the stronger cat 2 guys that I will face @ the Verge races later in the
season.
I showed up at the start line 15 min prior the race start only to find
about 15 guys already there. The front row was full and I took my place
2nd row behind a couple of quick starters. I had trouble clipping in
off the start and worked to fight my way to mid-pack by the first technical
component of the race course, a horseshoe shaped bowl with a quick 15
foot elevation drop, and 1800 turn back up the hill. This strung out
the field quite a bit, but I stayed aggressive and rode my way into the
top 15 by the “run-up”. During warm-ups I was able to ride the run-up
but thought it maybe faster for me to run. After twisting our way along
the top of the course, Steve Weller and I were able to move up to 8th
and 9th place. We caught a group of 4 and I sat on for a second to catch
my breath. There were 3 or 4 guys already with 20 seconds on our group
at this point. We hit a muddy rutted section of the course single file
and before I could do anything about it Weller attacked and was gone!
I knew he was the guy to watch but couldn’t work my way around the others
in the group to go with him. After a very conservative first race last
weekend @ Sucker Brook, I decided to open it up a little and attacked
hard through the windy, rolling, open field section of the course. One
guy (Scott from UVM) was able to stay with me and together we worked
our way into 3rd and 4th. Weller caught and passed the leader putting
a minute into him by the race’s end. With 2 laps to go I attacked, dropped
Scott, and was cheered along to 3rd place by Jan, Ella, Mo, and Uncle
Matty.
top 5
1 46:19 Stephen Weller Cycle-Smart
2 47:31 Jamie Belchak NAV/Pedros
3 48:04 PETE SMITH Essex County Velo
4 48:25 Scott Dolmat-Connell UVM Cycling
5 48:31 Dan Langlois Circleacyclocross
Looking forward to Gloucester! -Pete