A number years ago, I took it upon myself to learn how to true and build wheels. It was very interesting and turned out to be lots of fun. Plus, wheel building and maintenance skills come in handy every once in a while.
Over the years, I have learned quite a bit about wheel building and decided to share a few things for those interested in developing their own skills.
The following videos chronicle from start to finish the assembly of a complete wheelset. First we go over the materials and tools required for the build followed by the front and rear wheel.
Enjoy!

Materials and tools

1- Build a Wheelset, Materials from Dan Barrett on Vimeo.

The Front Wheel

8- Build a Wheelset, Front Wheel (Full, 23 min) from Dan Barrett on Vimeo.

The Rear Wheel

9- Build a Wheelset, Rear Wheel (Full, 27 min) from Dan Barrett on Vimeo.

*If you need help or advice with a wheel building project, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

I was looking forward to racing Beverly after the Tour of the Catskills the weekend before.   I had really struggled with fitness at Catskills following a month of doing nothing after being mis-diagnozed with a hernia in June.  But now I was confident I had enough racing in my legs to be competitive and was raring to go.   Also starting from Threshold were Ken , Jason and Matt M, who had been really strong at Catskills.   The course was dead flat and consisted of five turns, all but one right-handers.  The first lap was a good warm up.  I was feeling pretty good going into the second lap, about 10^th in line coming into the entry to Turn 3.  I took the same line as the first lap.  And then it happened – bang!  The big one.

I have never experienced anything like it on a bike in over 20 years of riding and racing.  It was so fast and unexpected that I was really just a passenger – I tried to correct but it was no use and I hit the deck very hard on my left side.  I’m still not sure what caused it – it felt like I was nudged from behind but I’m not 100% sure.  It was a pretty straightforward corner and the crash happened on the turn-in, not mid corner, so it was odd.  The guy behind me went down also,  someone else riding over the top of us (they both managed to carry on racing).  Going down is always a surprise but after a few close calls this season, having managed to thread through the Sunapee mess and touching wheels in the Sprint for 3^rd at Myles  Standish amongst others,  to go down like this was surprising and perplexing.  I’ve never crashed like that and I’d really like to know what happened.  Double fracture to the pelvis was the end result – could have been worse I guess.   I initially thought it was a hip injury and I overheard the folks at Beverly Hospital saying my pelvis was shattered.

Thanks to the nice Beverly lady who picked up my bike and unwittingly captured additional footage on Threshcam and to the Beverly Ambulance Service.  They arrived very quickly indeed, almost like they knew exactly where the accident was going to happen – The EMT with ESP.   And thanks to all my team mates and in particular Matt M for all the help afterwards.

So, I’m already working on getting healed and looking forward to riding with everyone again by the end of October and racing again next year.  I will miss the tail end of the season, as the Fall is my favorite riding time of the year and I was looking forward to the GMSR and Jamestown in particular but those gems will have to wait for 2011.  Threshcam will be back but in the mean time, here is the last video of 2010 from me.

While a certain high profile event was taking place in upstate New York, members of Threshold were down the road at the second edition of the Tour of the Catskills.  Nick “The Brit” Liddell, Joe “Masi Warrior” Marinelli and Matt “Tofu Pup” Miller enjoyed the perfect weather, stunning parcours and lovely townfolk of the Catskills.  The three day race consisted of a 2.3 mile prologue TT, 52 mile road stage, and a 57 mile road stage containing the (in)famous “Devil’s Kitchen” climb

Day 1: The TT course starts in “downtown” Tannersville and after about 50 meters takes a sharp right-hand turn into the steepest part of the course.  After a brief stab in the legs the course levels out to a gradually rolling climb that averages 4% up to the finish.  There’s no real “strategy” to an 8 min TT other than suck it up and give it your all.  Cross-hack ensued for all.

17 8:30.96 Matthew Miller

48 9:13.09 Nick Liddell

61 9:36.09 Joseph Marinelli

Day 2: The first road stage was marked by one interesting incident which impacted much of the rest of the day’s racing.  About 1 hour into the stage as the field was descending off the mountain (41.3 mph) we came around a sweeping right hand turn to find 5 horses in the road.  They were probably minding their own business, trotting along the side of a country road (as horses are wont to do) when a fast car with flashing lights sped past followed by some skinny, spindly creatures in bright colored spandex yelling loudly.

Now if I were a horse (of course) I would get scared, maybe a bit upset, and maybe say to myself “Yo, what are these ugly, weird things doing on MY road going crazy fast?! And who are THEY to yell at ME? WTF!!!” And maybe I would rear up, and maybe run off the road, yes, maybe I would even step on one of these creatures.  Well, all of this happened.  Ladies and gentlefolk, I give you HorseGate.

What made HorseGate a heavily debated issue amongst the Cat 4 Pros was not the horses but the impact on racing.  While calamity ensued behind, four riders raced through the horses and two of those riders held on to win with a gap that was exactly the amount of time that the field was stopped for HorseGate.  As with a certain Tour de France incident involving certain overall contenders there was a great debate as to whether or not these 4 riders should have stopped and waited while their equine-trampled Cat 4 brethren sorted themselves out or if they should have kept racing.

Well, lo and behold, the officials did not neutralize them so they did what they had to; kept racing.  To be sure, I could not find any USAC rule that specifically addresses equine interference or “horse play”.  And if the referees tell you to keep riding, you keep riding.

Due to HorseGate’s proximity to the day’s major climb (a 5K long beast at 11%) the field was shattered once we started racing again.  MM found his way into the 3^rd group on the road while NL and JM pushed it along in the field.  MM’s group caught the second chase group with 7 miles to the finish and these 20 riders were racing for 3^rd.  NL and JM rolled in with the shattered field.

8 2:29:37 @  0:01:18 Matthew Miller

61 2:57:40 @  0:29:21 Joseph Marinelli

62 475 2:57:40 @  0:29:21 Nick Liddell

Day 3: As you can imagine, HorseGate had made things a bit tense around the breakfast table for the Cat 4’s on Sunday morning.  During the race many folks had the chance to chat with the post-HorseGate leader during the quiet moments on the road.  He was a nice fellow and felt genuinely bad about the incident.  Although he was in yellow he wasn’t particularly happy about the circumstances that got him there; he was simply racing and the pace car flagged him forward.  Who can blame him?

The second road stage headed up the “Devil’s Kitchen” and everyone was content to ride tempo until the foot of the climb, knowing that the field would be destroyed by the top.  The climb lived up to its reputation.  It kicks right up and hits grades of up to 22% in the middle.  Many riders were forced to walk and Miller shamelessly paperboy-ed his way back and forth all the way up the climb.

A saving grace of the Devil’s Kitchen was that the summit was 10 miles from the finish, allowing chase groups to form.  Miller got himself into the 3^rd chase group for the 2^nd day in a row.  Despite a valiant attempt in the final 500m where he bridged up to within a few meters of the 2^nd group on the road he was given the time of his group-mates.  Both NL and JM rolled in solo but with huge smiles on their faces.

9 2:42:55 @  0:03:04 Matthew Miller

54 2:59:37 @  0:19:46 Nick Liddell

58 3:04:23 @  0:24:32 Joseph Marinelli

Final GC:

12 5:21:02 @ 0:03:33 Matthew Miller

56 6:06:30 @ 0:49:01 Nick Liddell

58 6:11:39 @ 0:54:10 Joseph Marinelli

Even though Chelsea was a DNS for Catskills I think we had more fun than Ted Danson, Oprah, and Slick Willy combined.  Tour of the Catskills will certainly go down as a “must race” in the Threshold 2011 calendar.  The scenery, beautiful roads, iconic stages, and friendly town residents make for some great racing and definitely some of the more challenging parcours in the Northeast.

If you are reading this, there is one thing you need to know about this race:  IT IS AWESOME, AND YOU REALLY SHOULD TAKE TIME OFF WORK NEXT JULY TO DO IT!

Seriously though, this is the third year in a row I have done this race (once as a 5, twice as a 4) and it never fails to be one of the highlights of the racing season.  Now the honor of writing the race report really belongs to our teammate Drew as the high-finisher on the squad (9th on GC) but since I love this race so much I figured the least I could do is toss out a few highlights from the three nights of racing in the hopes of encouraging more folks to pin-up for it next year:

• This race has a somewhat unique format and scoring.  It takes place over three nights (Tue-Thur) and the stages consist of an ITT, circuit/road race, and a points race on a track at the All-Star Speedway in Epping, NH.  Instead of calculating on overall time, a point value is awarded based on finishing place in each stage.  I won’t go into all the details on the scoring but this system keeps more people in the mix for the three stages and really adds to the fun.
• We had 4 guys in the cat 4 race, and 2 guys race in the 2/3 field.  In general the fields are smaller than the average weekend race, which is always nice on the narrow New England roads, and it is really great when you hit the track on the last night.
• Team highlights: Shane was the high finisher in the TT, Drew the high finisher in the road race, Gert the high finisher in the Points Race.  Cory and Jeff (both cat 3s) blazed the TT, then hung tough for the next two stages in the 2/3 field.
• Personal highlights: I was disappointed in my TT time, but I managed to improve upon last year’s effort.  Had a better road race than last year, but pulled up short with some cramping and a broken spoke near the end.  Managed to score some points by taking 2nd in a sprint in the points race, and finished 11th overall that night as a result.
• The Circle of Death: this is the fond nickname for the track where the points race takes place on the final night.  Its a banked, asphalt track, and despite some rutted pavement it is great to race on.  For me the points race is the highlight of the three nights, as people are sprinting against each other every 5 laps, and trying to calculate on the fly who is scoring and moving up or down on GC.
• Great organization and great people:  a big thanks to the organizer Armand Pantalone, the B.O.B. cycling team, and all the volunteers and officials who worked at this event.  Our team had a blast and we really appreciate all the effort that goes into running this terrific race. Last year we had three team members race, this year we had six, and I hope next year to have even more.

Attleboro is home to one of the most unique, technical and fun crits in New England. The course features a short power climb right after the start finish, two tight corners, one open corner and a deceptively tight elbow moving right into the finishing straight.
I rolled up (almost) ready to race with Gert and Mover, using race entry of the unfortunately sidelined Nick the Brit. I say almost because when I was putting my bike on Mover’s car on the way down he looks at my rear wheel and says “what’s that on your sidewall?” Turns out that on my ride across town, I had gotten a pretty ugly slash in my tire. We get to the race and step one is switching registration, which worked easily and step two was paying everyone’s favorite Butch Balzano of Sram Neutral Race Support a visit. With a brand new tire (seriously, neutral race support has got to be the best thing in the world), I was ready to get on the road.
To make things interesting, just as the 3 race was about to begin, the skies opened and the race was postponed due to lightning.
Game-time decision was to combine the 3 and 4 races, split the difference between durations (40k instead of 30k for the 4’s and 50k for the 3’s) and score the races separately.
More than a little excited to be racing with our awesome 3 squad of Leo, ZLB and Matt D, knowing that bad weather suits me pretty well and feeling confident in my handling skills, I braved the end of the storm to hit the course with Michael Brier of Refunds Now. Up the climb, I found that I was able to accelerate really comfortably into turn 1 and hit the corners pretty comfortably at speed.

Race gets started and immediately I’m tailgunning. Lots of brakes, lots of quick pushes, lots of people taking poor lines in hopes of moving up. About ten laps in, I start to feel my legs and I start moving through the pack and wind up jumping into a nine-man break with, among others, old friend Scott Glowa of Svelte Cycles. We don’t get more than a few seconds and are brought right back in. I return to my spot about 2/3 down of the pack. With some exceptions (people crashing on their own in corners for instance), nothing of much interest happens over the next bunch of laps. Little moves get away and get brought back without any fanfare.

A couple laps after the halfway prime, I realize that the move is about to be made (this course suits breakaways really well), so I start sliding up to the front of the field. Luke Fortini, Craig from GLV and a couple other guys start to move on the hill. Matt D is on the front of the pack and he gives me the faster lane to his outside and closes the door behind me. I hit it hard and make contact with the group of four. As a group, we stay on the gas hard for a few laps to establish ourselves. Having the two most numerous teams represented certainly helped (GLV and Threshold). I don’t remember how long we were away before I realized that I was the only 4 in the break, but at six to go, I told my breakaway partners that I wasn’t racing against them and all I cared about was working.

We get the bell and one of the 3’s comes around on the hill with what looked like a really well-timed attack. He builds up several meters between turns one and two, but overcooks turn two and ends up over the curb, on his back on someone’s front yard. Coming down the back stretch, I sit on the back, letting my three remaining breakaway companions sprint for their finish and come across the line solo, the front of the 4s. Leo won the field sprint in the 3s for a fantastic and well-deserved 4th place. Gert hit it hard in the finale and pulled down 7th in what must have been a really chaotic sprint (that I was very glad not to be a part of).

What I learned: Having some really strong teammates who will do the real hard work of disrupting chases makes getting into a breakaway a great idea. I have some decent intuition for how races develop and I have learned over my last handful of races that without a specific plan (like at Fitchburg, where the goal was keeping Miller in green), if I trust that intuition, good things will happen.

And, as a result of that, I have this:

Dear Jeffrey Bramhall,

The following request to change your USCF category has been approved and processed by USA Cycling:

bramhall – 2010-07-12 9:36
Member: Jeffrey Bramhall
License: Road Racer
Request to change category from Cat 4 to Cat 3

Jeff Bramhall and Matt Miller represented Threshold at Fitchburg Longsjo Stage Race this past weekend.  They finished 8^th and 10^th overall and Miller came away winning the Points Jersey.  Here are their recollections:

Day 1:  Circuit Race – 3 mile lap with a 90 degree right hand turn into a stair-step climb before the finish.

MM: Starting with a circuit race, I thought the first stage was going to be wild: crashes left and right, dudes killing themselves to be on the front.  For some reason it was reasonably calm.  After some start-line delays (fallen banner at start/finish) and getting lapped by the juniors (because of aforementioned banner difficulties) we were underway.  For the first sprint lap I was 10 riders back heading into the right hand turn.  I was planning on staying at the front of the race, but realized about 200m from the finish that all the dudes big-ringing the climb for the points were blowing up so I kicked on the gas in my granny gear and spun up for 3^rd (first and second were well up the road).  For the second sprint lap I did the same thing; wait for big guns to blow up at the bottom of the climb and spin up for the points.

While doing my “gentleman’s slide” after the sprint with 3-to-go a group got away after the climb. I was oblivious and didn’t think anyone was up the road because a) lapped riders and juniors were all over the course and b) our moto-ref was right in front of the pack.  7 guys got away and put 15 seconds on the pack.  I found out later there were 2 moto-refs for our field. Doh!

JB: I came into this race expecting the same thing as Miller – people hitting the deck and riding harder than they safely could. My goal was to conserve energy, keep the pace high (and safe). I didn’t realize that I was clearly going to lose contact with the group on the finishing climb without making a big effort each lap. When Miller told me he had pulled in points the first couple times through, I pushed the pace on the flat leading up to the finishing hill. On the final lap, I put in a few big pushes to make sure that no time gaps opened. Seeing Miller in the green at the end of the day solidified my plans for the weekend – defend on the road race and crit.

Day 2: Road Race – 9 mile loop with one major climb through Princeton Center and a long descent past Wachusett Mountain Ski Resort.

MM: Coming into the race I thought the CR and RR would be the places I could do some damage and accumulate some points.

On lap one race leader Gregg Blow put in a few attacks straight from the gun stretching out the pack for the first few miles until J “super-domestique” B got on the front and led out to the foot of the climb where I was able to pick up full points.  The second lap sprint didn’t go so well.  Midway up the climb, about 300m from the sprint line a gold flash blew by me; it was GB our race leader who was also deciding to pick up some points. I took second but GB was clearly stronger.  Third lap and the same thing happened:  GB went and there was nothing I could do to respond, just pick up points for second.  Final lap and my only concern was whether GB would take out the win and take another 25 points.  Bramhall got on the front and resumed his super-domestique work driving the pace for the final few K’s before the start of the climb to the finish.  I was pretty toasted from sprinting each lap so my only concern was to finish in the lead group and not lose any time, and hope that someone other than GB took the points.  He picked up 3rd on the day and got a few more points and JB and I rolled in just off the lead group exhausted but happy.   There was plenty of hand-wringing in the finish waiting for the officials to calculate the points but at the end of the day I still finished up by 30 points, much more than I calculated while on the road.

Special props to Mike Wissell who crashed hard with 7k to the finish, but somehow managed to untangle his bike, catch the lead group, and take 8^th on the stage.  He easily won the Hardman Award for the day!

JB: With Miller in green and the course clearly not suiting me my only job on the day was to make sure Miller was in position to finish. On the first lap, I had legs and told Miller that I would get on the front at around 1k and push the pack hard into the hill and keep anyone from attacking. I realized that I had pushed too hard when my catching back on was delayed by a miserable failure on the part of my legs to ride faster than the back of the pack. Uh oh. Eventually my legs show back up and as I’m about to make contact, the field explodes from about halfway back. People fall across the road and I have to come nearly to a complete stop to avoid carnage and burn more matches getting back to the group. By the descent and tight turn, I had regained the group. I sat in for the next couple laps and took time on the front as needed to keep MM in contention for points. On the final lap, people were starting to get twitchy in the pack and, seeing as I was with the group, I knew I wouldn’t lose much time in the overall so game time was on. I hit the front and strung the field out, again, not letting people make moves. About 7k from the finish, I heard a huge crash happen behind me, so I pulled off and looked back to make sure MM wasn’t part of that. He gave me a thumbs-up and I put my head down and got right back on the gas. The finale was less than exciting, I sprinted my way through gapped riders and finished the day 25 seconds back.

Day 3: Time Trial – Gently rolling/flat out-and-back course

MM:  Flat time trials are not my specialty, nor would I call them “enjoyable” so day 3 was something for me to get over with as soon as possible.  I knew coming into this race that anyone with a hope of being competitive in the GC would need to have some deep carbon hoops and clip-on bars, so special thanks to Mover for letting me borrow his gear while he was living the high life in France.

While warming up, I chatted with stage winner/second in points/race leader Gregg Blow who’s a great, friendly guy.  He was lamenting the fact that he didn’t have his TT bike up here and basically told me, “You better hope I’m in yellow after today, because I want to come home with a jersey, either this one [leader’s jersey] or your jersey.”  Yikes.  I assured him that his superior physiology and TT expertise would pay off and keep him at the top of the leader board.  I was only half correct: although he stayed near the top of the leader board he fell on GC from first to 3^rd, 6 seconds back.

My TT was unspectacular (52” off the winner’s time, moved up to 10^th overall) but Bramhall killed it!  He knew that if he didn’t lose any time on stages 1 and 2 that the TT would be his time to shine and that he could do some serious damage on GC.  He put in a stellar ride to end up 9^th on the stage only 35” back and move up to 8^th overall, just one spot out of the money.

JB: I knew that if I wanted to do well in the overall, today was my day. I came into the day at 36s. I knew what my goal wattage was for this stage, I got a solid warmup, I felt great. Everything fell into place really well, I was able to catch my 30s man and almost caught my 60s. I came across the line with a 21:03, which was good for 9^th on the stage and bumped me into 8^th overall.

Day 4: Crit – Fast 0.9 mile crit that slopes gradually uphill, has a 180 degree turnaround, and two fast corners at the bottom of the course. Crash-tastic!

MM: I woke up in the morning knowing that I couldn’t win the 5 sprints

Tranquillo sensations

during the crit, and that any rider could win the points jersey if he won just 4 of those sprints and I didn’t get any points.  Despite that I woke up “with tranquil sensations” knowing that I could keep the jersey by being consistent (picking up a few points here and there) and by not allowing the other riders in the running for green to take too many points.

Our race rolled off at 12:50 when temperatures were just peaking at around 98 degrees.  My goal was to go for early sprints to see who else was going after points.  I was able to get second in the first sprint behind Salipante (who was 3^rd in points behind by a little bit).  I went for the second sprint and was passed meters from the line by GB but picked up 5 points for getting 3^rd.  After that I was completely shelled.  I had run out of water, I had stopped sweating and my arms were shaking and I could feel myself starting to shiver (not a good sign when it’s 98 degrees out).  I slid to the back, grabbed a swig of water from Mike Brier (thanks Mike!) and went into survival mode.  All the next laps were a bit of a blur.  Each time I came through the start/finish I heard Richard Fries yelling, “…but WHERE IS THE GREEN JERSEY!?!?”  I thought my race was done for so I simply tried to say with the front group so at least I wouldn’t lose my 10^th place on GC in addition to the points jersey.

The final points were at 3 laps to go.  Coming through the start/finish I asked Bramhall if he’d like to help a suffering, defeated man by sprinting for the points.  I though that as long as someone with no points won the sprint there would still be a good chance that I could keep the lead.  Without a second’s hesitation he shot off down the road on the right hand side.  I stayed on the back for a moment but realized that when he and Salipante (3^rd on points) went down the road everyone sat up and I had a clear shot on the outside line.  We swept through the final turn and I saw Bramhall well ahead of the sprint, but better yet, I saw Salipante sitting up and coming backwards.  This reenergized me and I put on the gas with whatever I had left and passed him a few meters from the line to pick up 2^nd behind Bramhall and get 15 more points.  When I heard Richard Fries go nuts and my wife scream I realized that must have been enough to seal the deal.  3 laps later I rolled across the line well off the back of the pack but luckily got same time as the finishers.  The rider who was 4^th on GC rode a perfect tactical race by attacking right after the sprint with 3 to go.  He stayed away by a few seconds, but picked up a 10 second time bonus to win the stage and overall GC.  Chapeau!  Gregg Blow tried to bring it back on the final lap but was swarmed at the finish.  I think all the other GC riders were content to let him do the work, then jumped him in the end.

Bringing home the green for Threshold

JB: I came into this day with a solid plan that went directly out the window as soon as I tried to put power to the pedals. Between the previous three days and the heat, my legs were heavy and unresponsive. Not a good position to put a teammate into – having to defend a jersey on his own. I hung onto the pack for dear life for the first 18 laps when MM rolled back from the front looking like a broken man. He was shivering, out of water and demoralized. It seemed like the wheels were falling off our best laid plans. We hit the 3-to-go sprint bell and MM says to me “Bramhall, I’ll love you forever if you get these points.” Knowing how much work we had both done this weekend and how well things had gone, I wasn’t ready to let it go. I put everything I had into the back stretch, railed the two corners and accelerated up Main Street. I looked down between my legs the whole way up to the finish and couldn’t see anyone coming, but heard Richard going nuts, so I knew something had worked out well. Apparently, it looked like we had planned it. I’m willing to let that go as fact.

I rolled into the finish ahead of the guy with whom I was tied on GC, thinking that the placement on the final day was the tiebreak. Sadly, the tiebreak was tenths on the TT, which left me six tenths of a second out of 7^th place. Still 8^th overall at 1:03 off the leader is a great result, especially paired with the defense of the Green Jersey.

JB and MM’s final thoughts:

• The “new” format at Fitchburg actually made for a much more open race in the Cat 4’s.  The lead 4 riders were always only a few seconds apart from each other making it wide open.  The dynamic of stage racing in general is really fantastic. Racing with people for consecutive days breeds a camaraderie.
• The organizers and officials of Fitchburg did a really fantastic job. It’s rare the race where people universally have good things to say about the organization. Real kudos to all of them.  Each day as soon as we returned home to the “service course” we had an e-mail with full results, GC, etc.  Podiums were quick and efficient each day and results were available almost immediately.
• Going for the points jersey is infinitely harder than GC, in my opinion.  Instead of sitting in all day, going for points involves sprinting every few minutes and then trying to hold on while all the dudes with fresh legs kill it in the finish.  It’s terribly stressful mentally and physically painful.
• Threshold is a team of love.  (MM: Bramhall is the epitome of a teammate.  Not only was he encouraging before, during, and after races, he was cooking, cleaning, doing repairs on my bike, giving leadouts, and winning sprints.)  (JB: Being able to rely on a teammate is phenomenal. I did everything Miller asked me to do and he delivered when it counted, every time. I know how seriously he took the work I did for him and how important it was to him to close the deal. It takes a really strong mind to follow through in crunch time. It was awesome to watch.)
• In addition, despite the slim number of Threshold racers, the Boston contingent of racers really pulled together to support each other and stay positive the whole weekend.  Threshold, Back Bay, GLV, Hup, Refunds Now, BRC, everyone came together to check on each other, have fun, and race some bikes.  THAT’s what racing should be like all the time.

Feel the love

I just returned from a ten day vacation in France. Most of the trip was spent in Provence; with a few days tagged on the end in Paris. This was not a pack-up-your-bike-and-climb-the-Pyrenees sort of vacation, but rather a sight-see-with-your-family-eat-lots-of-fromage-drink-lots-of-wine vacation.

While staying in Provence, I found a day where I could tell my fellow vacationers were running out of steam for exploring the many wonderful small villages of the Luberon. I seized this opportunity and decided to rent a bike from Cyclix in Cavaillon. My plan was to ride from Cavaillon and follow the Autour du Luberon toward our rental house in Bonnieux, continue toward Apt and then retrace my steps. Being the designated (by my ability to drive a manual transmission well) driver of the trip, I’ve driven a lot of the roads already and felt confident in my ability to not get totally lost. My wife, for good measure and figuring my RoadID would be of little use, wrote a note for me to keep on my person which basically said “my name is Jason, I’m an American, I do not speak french. Please call this number in case of an emergency.”

After setting up my rented Cannondale Synapse and doing something amazingly wrong to the settings on the cyclometer, I was on my way. The Autour du Luberon includes two routes: Flèche Blanche and Flèche Ocre Orangè. From my knowledge of cycling French (or I guess, in this case, just cycling), I know that Flèche means arrow. The white arrows head to Apt, the orange to Lourmarin. The entire loop is 236km; I was planning for 90km. First thing you realize is that the arrows are not consistent at every turn. After a few missteps, I figured the best way to get on course was to just follow the road signs to the next town on the route.

The route started in Cavaillon, which is a more like a small city. It travels through flat, uninteresting roads until you reach glorious French country side.

The first town of note I passed through was Maubec. Some how I entered the town from the wrong side. This only meant that I had to do the cobbled climb in the center of town twice.

Head out of town, you turn down a narrow road and follow the arrows toward Oppède-le-Vieux.

The climb which took me to Oppède was certainly one of the more difficult on the route. My ego would not allow me to make use of the small ring of my triple – opting instead for the poor ratio provided by the middle. The temps were climbing (reaching 28 degree Celsius. Which, is somewhere between 32 and 212 American degrees.) and my steady diet of French fats and alcohol were showing its affect on my ability to go uphill.

Next stop was Mènerbes. I had to employ some cyclocross skills to get around some French machinery.

Following the arrows, I briefly lost the plot in Mènerbes and ended up at this vista point (the high peak in the distance is the Giant of Provence – Mt. Ventoux.)

Riding in the south of France is not entirely different than any other cycling I do. My nods and waves are replaced by Bon Jour’s and attempts to avoid making offensive hand gestures (I’m curious what the other cyclotourists thought of my Belgie Threshcolors and Lion of Flanders.)

I make my way through Lacoste and to our rental in Bonnieux. Kiss the wife, fill my bottles, eat some pastries and I’m off for some additional K’s before turning around and returning to Cavillion. My plan was hit the Utile in town to grab a coke. My plan was foiled by the French and their sensible work schedules/extended lunch breaks. It wasn’t until I reached Mènerbes again was I able to practice my Je veux être un Coca. The sweet nectar has a quick effect and I’m back to enthusiastically Bon Jouring everyone I see.

Pictures which kick the asses of words:

I make it back to Cavillion after four hours of amazing riding and head back to Bonnieux for some refueling.

Actually, refueling was more like this:

End to an awesome day. Next time – Ventoux.

The view from the 4s by Randall, Mover, and Jeff

Day 1 — Circuit Race

Randall:

The circuit race was really a misnomer. This was a full-on road race. 18 mi laps x 3. Each lap had a fast (22+mph) 5 mile climb. It was never very steep but the pace kept it hard. I felt like dog poo on the first lap but the magic of 3 GUs on the downhill made the body come to life a little.  I had learned on the first lap that because of the high speed of the climb that being tucked in the pocket of the peloton was MUCH more restful (morerestful even than the left or right side of the pack).  So after getting to the ‘1k to go’ on the climb (and feeling pretty rested) I decided to slide to the front and contest the KOM. I found myself behind a sketchy rider and forcefully told him “On your right” to let him know not to sketch his sketchy swervy sketchfest into me.  I snuck in for 3rd.

Feeling recovered, I found myself in front of Travis approaching the sprint line on Lap 2. We decided to goose it a bit and I’d give him a little lead-out – which could have been perfect for his bigger frame (downhill sprint started at about 40mph).  I hit the gas on the front with 1k to go, thought we had a miniscule gap, and held it to about 500m. I was spinning out at about 47mph with my Jennie-The-Spin-Instructor compact crank.  Ipulled off way too early and Travis was swarmed. If I could have held it for another 300m I’m pretty sure no one would have been able to come around him. Good lesson for the future.

The next lap was more of the same recipe – GU up on the downhill, hide in the pocket on the climb, then unleash some GU-soaked Ibizan dance party with 100m to go. I took 2nd in the KOM.

The finish was frenetic. The sprint started again at about 40mph and I managed to tuck
in and finish 11th (Vic to my left took a top 10) Travis and Shane were right on my wheel.

Mover:

Rand was spot on with his course description.  The race was fast due to the 95% downhill nature of the course.  24.something mph AVS.  Pack was twitchy and I was uneasy riding comfortably in the middle.  Spent a lot of time catching maybe more wind than I should have on the left or right side.  After learning the course on the first lap, I moved to
the front for the second lap.  I used the PT to gauge my effort and rode tempo at the front with some Sunapee guys.  A few riders went up the road, but I gave it no bother and just kept the pace steady. There were some “we must stop that break” attacks, but I just
followed.  Coming into the sketchy one lane bridge, I made sure I was very near the front and, to my joy, it was not as sketchy when you don’t try to take 110 guys and smoosh them through a small space. Stayed toward the front for the KOM.  I was looking for Shane (having no idea that Rand had attempted some points early), but lost some position toward the top due to my continued uneasiness with this field.  After the KOM, I moved up and went by Rand saying “letsssss goooo” and didn’t understand immediately why he looked like he had just earned some KOM points.  Hit 49mph on the steep descent after the KOM, took the corner fast and flew off the front saying something like “there are going to be GAPS” and getting some response that sounded like “woooosh wooosh Gaps”.  I put down 400w for a minute and then a group of riders including Vic bridged up.  I took a strong pull and then another and then the field was there.  At this point my body was like “cool, your 40mi race is over, nice work.  WHAT you still have to race 18 more miles?”  I was hurting bad.  Shane came by and gave some words of encouragement, but I was going backwards.  Slotted in as best I could on the last lap, but still my pack confidence was waning. Nearing the single lane bridge I moved up for safety and saw that Jeff was OTF in a small group catching two Sunapee guys who successfully broke away after my failed attempt.  I sat up over the bridge to let a gap open, unfortunately dudes just swarmed and my position gains were lost.  The remainder of the KOM climb was pain pain pain and the cramps were starting.  After the steep descent there was a gap to the field and I found myself on Jeff’s wheel.  I felt bad that I wasn’t able to come around and help close the gap, but my legs were gone and becoming solid.  Reconnected, and kept contact to finish s/t, but with both calves cramped and some bad lower hamstring pain.  Ride back to the car was difficult.  It was awesome to hear (and see the picture!) that other dudes were so well placed.  I found that with this finish I was spinning out my 53×12 with 2k to go.

Jeff:

Saturday morning breakfast, packet pick-up and sign-in went without a hitch (the latter two are a huge credit to Gary Kessler, the promoter of KSR and GMSR and a guy who really cares about the experience of amateur racers). End up cruising with the rest of the cat 4 squad up and down the road in the nervous pre-race minutes. Knowing that my season has been spotty at best, but feeling pretty confident in my recent training, I mention to the guys that I might be interested in aiming at the points jersey. We roll over to staging.

The course can be divided into three parts – first six miles shallow downhill with some rollers, second six shallow climbing with a couple little kicks and the third six really fast descending with a stupidly fast (and therefore generally safe) finish. Having not recon’ed the course, I didn’t realize when we were coming up on the finish and I was poorly placed, a bit sketched out and already spinning wildly. Points jersey – conceded. Now it’s time to hang around and not get dropped. Lap 2 is pretty uneventful. Lap 3, I bridge up to a break with two Sunapee guys in it and as soon as I get there, they give up the ghost and I head off with a couple other guys who have bridged. We don’t really get much of anywhere, come back and I make another push up the KOM with the eventual KOM winner. Turns out he climbs faster than I do. Who knew? I sit in the back of the pack for the descent (and burn a bit of carbon because, like a fool, I am behind people who don’t know how to go down hills – baffles me every time) and bring a cramping Mover back onto the back of the group while trying to ward off my own cramps. As Mover said, the body was confused at the length of the race, seeing as it was the second longest I’ve done this season (prior to Monday). I sit in and prepare to dodge carnage, cross the line and call the day a success.

Day 2 — Time Trial

Randall:
Two words: Holy wind.  The 4s had it easier than the 3s. The first 5 miles of the course were pretty ideal for a TT —  Steady rise uphill allowing for good tempo. There were a few sneaky risers (bridges over the scenic river) that snuck up on me.  I was able to dial in my target wattage of 300-310 for the first 5 miles until the Skyship chairlift (which marked the 5.5mi of 10.5).  From that point on it was a mental and physical battle.  The wind really zapped the speed. Attempting to get really small and aero was really hard.  My wattage was all over the place based on the gusting, swirly winds. If I wasn’t at 360w I was at 220. I was fairly gassed at the punchy hill at the turn point (which came at about mile 9). I had a pretty weak finish and ended up with considerably lower avg wattage of 286 than I had hoped for. I chalk it up to some fatigue. I slid back 1:30 on GC into 30th place. Spin instructor avg cadence of 102rpm.

Mover:

TT time.  Legs HURT from the day before for sure.  Got in a good warm-up with Shane and hit the line for my start.  I planned to keep my watts somewhere just under 4w/kg for the first few minutes and then up it.  I had a very hard time finding a good rhythm and saw my wattage go up and down between 280w and 180w.  The head wind was particularly tough!  I caught my 30″ man pretty early, but was passed by both my
+30 and +60 second men.  Aero position felt comfortable, but that plus wattage did not translate to a particularly fast time.  I did turn in negative wattage splits covering the final 10′ at my target 260w. 253w AP/172AHR (which is low)/92AC for 30:10 21mph AVS.  At the end, I had successfully blown out whatever had built up in my legs and felt better than that morning.

Jeff:

I’d never done a TT before, so my goal was to pace myself well and see where I end up. With Dan’s helmet and my friend Christine’s clip-on aerobars, I set off on course. As it should be, the TT was uneventful, I felt good, got myself into a good zone, realized that for the next TT I do, I should really get a saddle with a softer nose. I pull across the line a bit over 29 minutes and am totally stoked because I know I really went for it. I’m now 46th on the stage and overall. Power file was, sadly, lost to the ether.

Post-TT:

Went back to the house and on Nick and Lodrina’s urging, I put Lodrina’s compact crank on for Monday’s mountain stage which, after driving the finishing climb, was going to make the peloton look like a war zone. Also, I threw a 100mm stem on instead of the 110 I’d been using because, dammit, if I’m going to suffer, I’m going to be as comfortable as I can. Also, I move my saddle back just a touch to compensate. I’m a professional, I mess with things. I opt against putting my fancy rear wheel with the 26t on in favor of the powertap with the 25t figuring that with the 34 up front, climbing will be ok and that power will be more valuable than aerodynamics. Anyway, my plan is to get dispatched early and roll in alone 15 minutes up.

Day 3 — Road Race

Randall:

Race is cheery and conversational for the first few miles until the first climb @ 6 min into the race.  My legs asked me WTF IS THAT??? My front derailleur also decided not to let me shift off the big ring just to add to some of the mental stress. I kept thinking…. am I going to BB this whole race in the big ring?? I don’t have kahunas like BB . . . I have little bird balls.

First climb is 8:30min @ 320w. that was a wake-up call. Legs feel like DEATH.  Time to apply a base layer of GU.  Lots of downhill action and stressful avoidance of road cracks and crevices for the next umpteen miles.  I keep having flashbacks to Hilltowns where my tire went into a groove and came out flatted. I slowly began to feel better and was really psyched to see Vic and Travis patrolling near the front. Jeff and Shane are also looking great until Shane pulls over with a flat at about mile 10. Bummer.

1st KOM climb. Chain is back to being stuck in the big ring for the first few hundred meters. A lot of playing with both shifters and I get some relief to get it on the little ring. I had lost some positioning and WOW this hurts WAY more than I thought it would. I set a new PR 5min wattage at 380 — over my threshold of 320 trying to hold on — it was a
bit more than the legs could handle. My left quad starts cramping and generally feeling like someone stabbed me. I ask the right leg to carry more of the load.  It responds with apathy. The next 5 min are at 280w. The elastic band snaps. A rider passes me. Then another.  Double punches in the gut. I am going as slowly as I feel.

Time to salvage the race. I grab a wheel and slowly work my way back to a foursome that’s going well. We pick up a few more and now we’re 10 working together. We get some cheering from Curt, Paula, Dan and Sara at the feed zone. I was looking and hoping for Mexican Curt wearing a sombrero. I am happy to get a fresh bottle and dropped an empty. We chase HARD for a bit then get caught behind Homer Simpson and his giant crappy 1974 Motor Home doing 15mph down a hill.
We double pace-line until we pick up Shane.  Shane’s rear wheel is running at max 40psi. Being a bruiser, he doesn’t really care.  We make it to the base of the last KOM climb @ mi 55 and we grab him a flashy Zipp wheel from the SRAM guys. We ride on the climb together but since he now has air in his tires he becomes smaller and smaller in my line of sight.  Having stopped for SRAM we had given our pack of 10 a head start up the hill. I salvage some pride by passing about 8 of them. Shane caught and passed them all.

Great atmosphere at the top.  I discover Jeff rode out of his shoes as did Vic and Travis. So proud to see some great performances from some great teammates.

I was humbled in many ways. The power tap gives me some salvation and understanding. I have much to learn. I have much to eat. Cheers and thanks to everyone for a great weekend.

Mover:

Driving the road course the day before was both extremely helpful, but also very scary.  I was worried that my pack confidence would still be stuck back in Brookline and that the 25mi downhill was going to be a shit show.  Thankfully, this was not the case.  The first hill took about 10′ of near threshold work.  It wasn’t comfortable, but I wasn’t put into trouble.  I made a conscious decision to slot toward the back of the peloton for the start of the downhill.  I knew there were a few easy places to move up later.  Riding in the pack was much better and wasn’t the pedal-pedal-brake-brake I was expecting.  At about 5k to go to the sprint and start of the climb, I checked on Vic to see how he was feeling about his position.  Dude was cool and looked ready for a fight.  Slotted in and chatted up Rand for a while, only to see Shane pull off with a hand in the air.
Hit the first KOM climb.  At the turn into the climb there was a crash (two dudes got tangled, pretty stupid). Pace was fast, but I was trying to stay as steady as possible.  My goal was to make it to the 5K to go (to the KOM) sign, as I knew the steep stuff was over after that point.  I tried to hang with Travis and Jeff, but those dudes were mega-diesel engines and just rode away from me putting out 5w/kg.  We reach the KOM and I’m in a group with the race leader, trying to chase on.  Dudes are hauling ass and I’m just trying to stay attached.  We roll through a sketchy intersection, I miss a wheel and then start to lose contact.  I set my own pace from there to the feed zone.  I see Curt (no sombrero) holding a bottle for me.  Next thing I know, a dude from another team grabs my bottle!  Curt yells at him and the dude relents and hands back the bottle.  I slot down a bit to grab the bottle, only to realize it isn’t mine and that Dan has my bottle and is up the road a bit.  A little more bottle shuffle and I’m ready to hammer the downhill.  Good thing I didn’t lay into the guy, since we had to ride the rest of the race together.  Chased like mad. MAD.  At the start of the dirt road climb we were in 10m of the field, but never made contact.  Once they hit Rt. 4, they were out of sight and it was two-man pace-lining (until we picked up a HUP rider) to the start of the final climb.  On the way there, we passed a NASTY crash from the peloton.  Bodies, bikes and blood.  Not good.

At the final climb I tried to drop my group mates.  Somewhere around 1k to the KOM, the HUP guy passed me and I couldn’t keep pace.  I was in survival mode here and didn’t want to end up cramping or destroyed with 5K more climbing to go.  I saw Dan and Curt at the KOM and their cheers totally lifted my pace.  I tossed Dan my flat kit, since I didn’t want to haul that stuff any further.  In the last K I started to close on the HUP rider, but no dice for the catch.  I crossed the line and saw everyone and was so happy to be finished.  Awesome part was seeing Shane and Rand finish not that far behind.  Would have been more awesome had I known I could have been racing the final two hours with teammates.  Finished 59th on the stage and also 59th on GC @ 15:30.

While I’m not blown away by performance this weekend, I know that finishing my first stage race is a mighty big accomplishment.  Huge props go to my roommate Travis who absolutely crushed it.  I’m really proud of everyone who represented the Lion at this race.

Jeff:

On the rollout to RR staging, I was breathing pretty hard, which for me is a good sign. We roll out and are, as Rand said, very chatty. The sketch factor has gone down dramatically with familiarity and a realization that the only goal of this race is to make it to the end. I’m feeling good drifting around, chatting people up, even when we’re in the first climb. Pretty pleased thus far. Shane gets a flat, which is a bummer. Other people get flats, which is less of a bummer. The road quality is kind of bunk, but it’s Vermont, it happens.

As we approach the easy, slow corner onto the first KOM point, some guys decide to try riding on their sides and find it doesn’t work so well. A rider decides to get off his bike on the left side of the road instead of  riding up the hill. Another interesting decision.

I try to hold on up the climb, but my gentleman’s slide goes a bit further than I’d like and I end up in chase mode with a Luzzo’s guy, the Cycle Loft guy who rides a Parlee (and is a really nice guy). We hammer for a while, get caught by a bunch more guys (a Bikeman guy, the GC leader, two Drummond guys including actual Drummond, who is absolutely burying himself for his teammate). We try to work as a group, but being in chase mode, the stronger of us dump the rest periodically, who chase on, do one pull and fall off. I feel really bad for those guys. The peloton is in our sight almost this whole time and after that really long descent, four of us make the catch. Stoked. It’s 40 miles in and I’m on the lead group.

I sit in and recover for what feels like forever and it’s fantastic. My legs are back under me and I go into pack ninja mode, cruise to the front and say hi to Trav and Vic. We talk about plans for the rest of the race and Travis and I decide to pin it to keep people honest until the climb. No sooner do we say this than a huge crash happens for no reason right behind us. Quick survey of who’s in front of me reveals that all is well as far as team and friends go. Great. Business time. Trav and I string out the field. My goal is to bring the break back (3 guys at 50 seconds) before the climb and we bring them to about 15 seconds when the road goes up. We make the left onto East Mountain Road. Vic takes off, Trav and I bump fists for a job well done and settle into the pain zone. At the 1k to the KOM sign, I decide I’m tired of my legs hurting and that I should get this done with sooner rather than later. One “SHUT UP LEGS” later, I’m kicking the gears into action and start to bring back people who have gone too hard, too early. At the KOM, I catch Vic and try to give him a draft, but at this point, I can’t slow down. I hammer the short descent, pass the GC leader, whose mechanical issues have just gotten worse and worse as the stage went on. Bummer for him, because he busted his butt to defend his jersey. As we pass the Grand Lodge, inside of 1k, I turn it on again and pass a bunch more people on the climb into the finish.

Result: 22nd on the stage @ 3min. Could not have been happier. New PRs: 5min, 10min, 15min, 30min, 90min, 120min.

Overall: 25th @ 5 minutes. Very satisfied for my first stage race.

After a 10 year hiatus, Vermont Race Director Gary Kessler brought the Killington Stage Race back to New England and put on a first class event.  Threshold Cycling was ready to make their presence know this weekend with a total of 9 riders entered in the Cat 3 and 4 fields with another group, as equally important, there in support.  The team success has been top notch this season, but individually, I’ve had high expectations and have been average at best.  I rolled into Killington Friday afternoon with two goals: (1) RACE each day – without being afraid of blowing up. Put in the work and if a break was going to happen, I was going to be in it. (2) Be within striking distance to give myself a fighting chance on day 3.

Saturday May 29

STAGE ONE: The Mountain Times Circuit Race was 3 x 18-mile loops.  Each included a 5 mile climb that began gradually and slowly pitched upward toward the King of the Mountain (KOM) check point and ended with a fast downhill finish.  Each time through the finish line was for Sprint points.  Lap #1 and at the base of the climb, Shake launches an attack.  A gap is forming.  A few riders respond and I am one of them.  Sitting 3^rd, I do all I can to stay on Shake’s wheel.  We hit the 5K mark and my heart rate reads 189.  I am suffering, but we have a gap and I am in it.  The gap is short lived.  I can no longer hold the pace and begin dropping back into the pack at the 1K mark.  I get my wind back as we descend and find myself towards the front of the pack as we approach the first sprint checkpoint.  I decide to give it a go.  Two riders from Dartmouth shoot off on the right.  They obviously have a lead out train going and their second man is large. I am not. I choose the large wheel to pull me to the front.  It works.  We charge towards the line.  I run out of gears! Cross the line 6^th to contest the first sprint.  Lap #2 and Mover slots his way to the front keeping the pace up until we make the turn towards the one-lane bridge.  Shake is near the front again looking smooth.  I begin to set up as the second wheel on the right as we approach the 1K mark to try to contest the KOM.  The group goes.  I see Randall shooting right and it looks like he has another gear in him that I don’t have.  Powerful!  He contests and is 2^nd over the line taking his first KOM points of the day.  He would later earn points on the 3^rd lap as well.  Mover is still near the front and I notice guys easing back as we are descending.  There is more space between riders than there should have been.  We make a hard right onto Rte 100.  Mover gives a quick peek back and sees the potential for a break.  I see it and know what he is thinking almost instantaneously.  He puts in a large dig.  He and I go back and forth taking quick pulls, like at Sterling, but to no avail.  A couple riders escape towards the second sprint.  But there are still points at stake as the main group approaches.  As the pace slows, I see Randall and Travis sprint off towards the line.  I thought it was a perfect idea.  They just started too early.  Lap #3 and Jeff shows what was the start of a strong weekend for him.  He leads the charge to bring back the break down Rte 4.  We head up the climb again.  The third time up the climb was the hardest for me.  Road was gutted a bit and required me to put out more effort to ride through it and maintain my position in the pack.  Randall looks good again and powers by for more KOM points.  Moving forward to the final moments.  My plan is to maneuver similar to the first lap, but have teammates with me.  After Randall’s showing of wattage during the KOM’s, I said to myself, “he looks good. Let’s get him to the line.”  I see Randall.  Travis is close behind him.  I tell Randall to “get on my wheel because when I see a hole, I’m gonna to take it.”  The right side is not open as it was in the past.  I’m in the middle and the seas part . . . only slightly.  Cross the line 10^th on the day with Randall and Travis right behind in 11^th and 14^th.  Pace was high throughout as I had the average at 24.5 MPH over the 53 mile course.  Later in the evening we receive our time trial start times for tomorrow.

Sunday May 30

STAGE TWO: Travis, Randall and I caravan to the start for the Long Trail Brewery Individual Time Trial.  The ITT is essentially an 11 mile false flat with 3 short steeper pitches along the way.  Take 30-minutes to warm up.  Legs feel pretty good.  9:42:30 and I’m off.  Randall has a one minute head start.  I have no MPH goal, but plan to solely focus on execution.  I always believe that if you execute, results will take care of themselves.  Since I do not have a power tap, my goal is to hold 90% of my max heart rate for what would essentially be 30-minutes of work.  I pass the rider in front of me by the 15K mark.  He hangs around a bit until I permanently drop him by the 5K mark.  I thought I was having pretty good ride, but then I am passed shortly thereafter by the rider behind me.  We jockey back and forth for a bit until I decide that I am not racing him, but need to execute my own race.  The final 5K is windy.  I tuck in as aero as possible.  I usually have difficulty on windy courses but work through this fairly well and I can see Randall slowly getting larger in my sites.  Randall stays away.  I cross the finish line in 28:04 averaging just slightly under my LTHR.  Good for 14^th on the day and :55 back on the GC after two days of racing.  Big thanks to Jeff for taking the time to help me make adjustments and set up my TT rig.

Monday May 31

STAGE THREE: Initial plan was to make it to the final climb on East Mountain Road with Shake.  Let the others dictate the pace up the preceding climbs.  Work together in the final.  Test our metal against the field.  He’s sitting 1:11 back and I’m at 0:55 off the GC and within :30 of a podium spot.  The field rolls out and shortly we are at our first climb of the day.  I see my heart rate hit 180+.  A rude awakening early in the race.  We are over the climb and now its fast flat &/or downhill until about mile 25.  Very glad we scouted the course Sunday.  I decide to keep my wheels in the middle of the road &/or on the left side as the right side was pretty gutted in areas causing guys to flat.  And I’m a right-side rider.  Shake flats, but I knew we still had a strong group in the field.  And they made their presence known all weekend.  At mile 20, Mover asks if I need to be pulled to the front.  I say thanks anyways for the moment.  “We have 5 miles until the climb.  I’ll start making my way up pretty soon.”  Pace picks up slightly for the intermediate sprint with only a few guys battling for it, probably knowing what was ahead.  I have no intention of going for it.  Right hand turn and let the Battle of North Road begin.  Rider goes down. And instantly my initial reaction is that anytime a rider goes down, the pace at the front picks up and a few riders are OTB.  And it does.  A Mystic Velo rider hits a pretty good 2 minute interval before exploding.  I’m on the inside and clear.  We hit the 5K mark.  Things are stringing out.  I am anticipating a selection soon.  We hit the 500m mark that includes another surge as we approach the KOM.  I take a quick look back to see where the rest of Threshold is.  Quick look reveals no one.  Rider next to me is fading quickly as the group is pressing ahead.  Thinking I’m solo, I tell myself get to the pack then get your rest.  I surge onto a pack of less than 20 riders.  We have a gap.  And I don’t know who is left in the dangling group of riders behind us.  The typical Cat 4 rotation to keep the pace up is short lived.  We are over the climb, descend, and make a left hand turn.  Pace slows here as we climb to the feed zone.  Recovering well, I see the Threshold pit crew manning the feed zone — PRO.  I get a shot of adrenaline from them and I’m stoked!  I notice the pack is larger now as I drop back to conserve.  See Travis and I’m pumped that he made it through the first round of climbing with the main pack.  Make our way to the dirt road section of the course.  Travis makes his way towards the front and does a number on the peloton with some riders at the front of the pack.  The kid has an engine.  He had steam coming out of his ears as he hammered away on the main pack for 10-15 miles with a few others until we turned onto East Mountain Road.  I didn’t feel great going over the dirt road climb or down the majority of Rte 4 with the pace high and Travis mixing it up in front. It was pace-lined out.  And as soon as it wasn’t . . . crash . . . on the bridge.  Just prior, I hear a holler on my left side.  It’s Jeff!  Awesome to see him there after 45+ miles in the bank.  Three riders are now off the front.  Jeff let’s me know he still has wattage in the tank.  He and Travis were having none of it!  Back to the front came Threshold’s 1-2 punch.  They were cycling’s version of The Hart Foundation.  Sitting 1, 2, me at 4.  They were determined to bring this thing back together before the turn and set the pace high.  I stake out Stephen from Cambridge.  He’s looked strong all weekend and that’s the wheel I want.  ‘The Foundation’ almost pulls it off as 2 riders are pulled back on the first climb.  Stephen goes.  I follow.  Time to test my metal.  I get energy from The Foundation.  I hear one of them call my name.  They did their work and I want to finish for them.   We make it up the first climb and around the bend.  I’m thinking “let’s do this.”  We approach the second climb and my gasket blows.  I enter mind over matter mode.  Jeff goes by me like I’m standing still as we near the KOM.  I see Curt and Dan yelling encouragement.  I try to get one rider to work with me in getting some time back as we crest past the KOM, but he declares, “I won’t be much help.”  “Help when you can,” I reply.  The carnage ends as I cross the line 30^th on the day dropping me to 21^st on the GC.

A Moment to Reflect

Many positives came out of this weekend.  I’m proud of my teammates and being a Threshold’er.  Break through performances all around.  Jeff, Mover, and Travis take punches at stringing out and wearing down the pack.  Leo wins an intermediate sprint and works with hardman winner BB to keep Devin in the KOM jersey.  Jeff conquers the mountain.  Randall earns some KOM points.  Devin wins the Cat 3 KOM!  Did I finish where I wanted to on the GC?  Maybe not.  But my teammates left it out there for each other on and off the bike, gave me a fighting chance in the end, and I finally earned my first top 10 finish.  I will be back to tackle this course again next year.  Special thanks to Curt, Dan, Paula, Sari, and Sarah for being our support crew and helping to make it a great weekend of racing!

The bad news – My race was neutralized for the 2nd year in a row due to a field having to pass us. It wouldn’t be that bad if it was a true neutralization, which is bringing us to a decent roll. No, we pretty much came to a complete stop (last year we did come to a complete stop). It was pretty bogus. I am almost ready to take back every nice thing I’ve ever said about this race. Dropped riders catch back up, the willingness to attack leaves the body, and the fire of racing is almost no longer there when something like this happens.

The ugly news – The final 1k of the race is a downhill into a traffic rotary, go halfway around the rotary, then turn off and go up the entrance road to Sunapee Ski Resort. It’s a pretty interesting finish that I am pretty sure you don’t see anywhere else in bike racing in New England. So as we (the CAT 4’s) are coming downhill, about 50 meters before the rotary a riders chain drops or has some sort of mechanical which causes him to lose balance and go down. There is a massive amount of swerving in the field to the left and the right to avoid the downed rider and just as fast as we it split, the field came back together. When the field came back together it is rumored that two riders locked handlebars (or touched tires?)  and subsequently went down right as we were entering the traffic circle. That was the beginning of the end. Rider after rider fell or swerved off the road trying to avoid “the worst crash in the 27 year history of the race” themselves. I myself ended up getting forced into a curb and went down onto a grassy section at about 30mph. I lucked out. Others didn’t: http://www.wmur.com/news/23645547/detail.html