Mentor ~ UDF/Reser Bicycle Outfitters

Cold, wet, windy, perfect day for a bike race.Props to Jeff German for torturing the field with countless merciless attacks. I seemed as soon as everyone would get comfortable, Jeff would attack again and again. He rode most of the race at the front of the field turning the screws.I was able to sit back, fake a couple of attacks, rest and wait for the finish. The race came down to the final climb to the finish. Not knowing where the finish line was, I got boxed in and had to push my way to the front of the pack. Once I got clear, I didn’t have enough road left to catch the two guys that got the jump on the field. Again, thanks to Jeff for an excellent effort, he rode his guts out. Great team effort!!!

Yesterday and today I kept hearing, regarding this race, to get a good look at the finish line, cause you only see it once. So, of course, we paid no attention. It didn't help that they moved the finish line out a few miles into the course. Also it was pouring down rain so my warmup was spent in the back of Chris's truck.

Lows to mid 40's and raining easily made the most miserable conditions that I've raced in, but not the most miserable I've felt on a bike. Working the front was actually a lot more comfortable than sitting in cause it helped warm you up. Still it was unsettling to have your clothes and socks soaked through after 10 miles knowing that you had to race another 50+ miles.

We had three today, Will, Todd and me. On the way out a few small breaks happened but the big break ended up being around fifteen riders, including Will. It seemed too big to hold and we debated pulling it in when they were just dangling off the front, but they managed to stretch it out so Cycledot, Todd and I got a decent block going. The blocking frustrated the field and resulted in a few dq's when riders took yellow line flyers. Hats off to Mike Hewitt for strict enforcement of the rule.

At the turnaround the break realized we were right on them and it disintegrated. Several people took flyers and other than the individual who nearly soloed away, Savage Hill either covered or instigated every break. Still not much was getting away, I think the headwind was a major factor.

It was getting late in the race but I thought we still had around five miles to go. I hear Will and Cycledot behind me talking about getting an attack going. When I heard Will say he was game but was having trouble getting to the front, which Todd had covered, I started looking for any opportunity to move up and hopefully start stringing out the field. A short down hill stretch cleared a path and I was able to launch a weak attack. I get swallowed again just as we come across a Marshall shouting at us and we see the 1K sign. CRAP, already?

Still we hit the climb and the field is all bunched up, people sitting in waiting for who knows what. I start shouting up the road to push the pace and string it out. I'm not sure why but a few people actually did and the pack thinned enough that I was able to start zig-zagging through it. I passed the last guy nearly on the berm with about 500 M still to go and I gave it everything I had. 200 M sign and I'm still off the front, barely. Expecting the whole field to swallow me I ended up getting swallowed by a 5 man break, so I ended up 6th.

This race was a blast. Despite the miserable weather conditions there were 50+ people in the 3/4 field. There was lots of activity off the front with little breaks constantly forming. I played around in my share of breaks and often found myself attacking off the front again almost as soon as my previous break was caught. Unlike in the Morrow race, people were willing to work hard in the breaks. A few times I thought we might get something going. But nothing lasted. The longest breaks of the day were two solo attempts by Scott Moon from the Hero's Foundation Cycling team. Scott was also in a few breaks with me. He is clearly riding very strong this year.

After one of my breaks was swallowed I got stuck in a slow line and I ended up getting shuffled to the back of the field where I was stuck for the last half hour of the race. The field was just putting along and it was impossible to move up. Larry and Todd were still in good position (they did a great job staying in the top 15 the entire race). I should have yelled up to them to push the pace and string the field out, but I didn't realize they could hear me. Eventually Larry overhead me talking with Dale from the Cycle Dots and was moving forward to string things out, but we hit the 1k to go line before Larry could make his move. So I started the final climb near the back. I passed a ton of people but only came up with 14th at the line. Larry made a good run for the line and took 6th.

Great job, Blair. The race was perfectly suited for both of us. He got boxed in on the final climb and elbowed his way to third place. Just like back in the day- taking his licks in front of the net. Who says ex-hockey players can't race bikes. I am very glad to have Blair on the squad this year. I wouldn't want to race against him.

This is one of the best courses and best run races in the OVR series, BUT I would not be too upset if I had missed this one. Driving down to the race it did not seem all to bad. The temp was holding in the mid to upper 40's and the roads were not very wet. When we arrived you could almost see some patches of blue sky, but that quickly dissipated. About 45 min before the race people started warming up. I chose to get dressed and sit in my truck with Larry staring in awe at the riders doing warmups on stationary trainers in the rain.. I had no desire to get wet and cold 45 min before the race, especially if I was going to be cold and wet for another 60+ miles. It is a road race, who needs a warm up anyway.
As we rolled out to the start line I could hardly keep my bike in a straight line from the cold. I suppose that I should have worn a few more pieces of clothing, but it was a bit late now. The race started out at a nice pace, and since I was riding by myself in the field I figured that I would just use this race to ride myself into the ground. That was about the only way I could stay warm.
Needless to say I spent about the whole 60+ miles making attacks in vein and trying helplessly to bring in breaks. Overall I was very happy with my performance. It was definitely a race to build on. The funniest thing of the day was me sitting in my truck all miserable and then seeing the 3/4 squad come in smiling after racing the same distance.
Congratulations to both the 3/4 and the 4/5 squad. Like I said it was a race to build on.