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SUMMARY
Stage 1: Time trial: position 39th (2min 39sec behind stage winner…doh!)
Stage 2: Circuit Race: position 25th (2sec behind stage winner) Overall position after stage 2: 33rd
Stage 3: Wachusett Mountain Road Race 41miles: position 14th (17 sec behind stage winner) Overall position after stage 3: 16th
Stage 4: Downtown Fitchburg Criterium: position 33rd (in pack, 0 sec behind stage winner).
Final Overall position 16th of 100+ starters – 3min 02sec behind overall winner
BY STAGE:
Stage 1. Time trial.
Pouring rain – out and back 14km (total) time trial. The road was undulating with slightly uphill sections, but no hills. Surface was ok, a bit bumpy. I felt off form going in, partly from being post-call, with 4 hours sleep for 2 consecutive nights. Was using aerobars for the first time, so was nervous handling in the rain. Passed two people and was reasonably happy with 39th all things considered, but way back on time from the leader (2min 39sec – he was way ahead of even 2nd place though).
Stage2: Circuit Race
This was a really nice 3 mile loop of which we did 8 laps. The finish was up a sharp hill. The race was fairly safe, but there was a long fast slightly downhill straight into the final corner which lead to the uphill finish, so there was high speed jostling for position on the last lap. Added to that, there was a traffic island in the middle of that penultimate straight (adorned with hay bails!). So I spent the race trying to stay near the front and drifted between top 10 and top 30 (of 100+). On that last fast straight as I tried to come down the outside for a good position, there was a crash, which must have downed 10 or so riders. The peleton split and swerved to avoid the crash. I came into the last corner further back than I wanted and held position for 25th. This moved me up to 33rd overall.
Stage 3. Wachusett Mountain Road Race 41miles
4 laps of a 10 mile loop with some decent climbing up the side of Wachusett National Park. The loop consisted of a climb, then fast descent and long undulating back stretch with some dragging slight uphill bits. The finish was after the first half of the climb essentially. My strategy was that it was more important than ever to stay up at the front since a split in the field would be unrecoverable. So I stayed up in top 10-15 for most of the race. After 20 miles, when we went up the climb the second time, about 30 of us got a gap from the rest of the pack. We all started working to keep the gap and I did some work on the front. Next thing the race official drives up and tells us to pull over and stop to let the pro-womens race thru. Bye bye gap! They just let everyone catch us – grrrr. There were several other similar stoppages which were annoying. I had a little issue with the stopping ‘cos I had to replace my pedals (long story, but ended up with different cleat system) between Stages 2 and 3 and I couldn’t get my damn clip in on one of the re-starts, losing 20-30 places. I moved back up though. So – the final lap, the field was stretching and gaps appearing as the pressure was applied thru the climb. At the top of the climb someone crashed in front of me. I made minimal contact and someone rode into the back of me, but it was all low speed – so I hopped back , via the road-side and sped down the descent to reclaim position in the front 10-15. On the final long flattish stretch, the hammer was down and I dug in to hold onto the front of the group. With about 100m of the climb to go, I was running out of steam and couldn’t quite hold the top ten. Was worried that I’d be swallowed up by a pack from behind – looked back and there was no one really there. Finished up in 14th and made time on a lot of people, moving to 16th overall.
Stage 4. Downtown Fitchburg Criterium.
Fast crit with uphill start finish straight, into easy slow turn then downhill into two sharper fast turns in close succession. Was in ok position on the start line, but when we were set off, I again had difficulty with my clips and found myself 60+ riders back. Had to fight my way up over the next lap or two. I got up to the front 10 for several laps, but on the descent into a sharp turn 2 there was a wave of riders each lap gaining position and diving into the inside line. Had to back off to not hit them and kept yo-yo-ing between top 10 and top 30. In retrospect, the outside of the corner for turns 2 and 3 was the place to be. Anyhow, 3 laps to go (of 20) and I’m in good shape, about 10th. Down the downhill straight and lost 15 places to the inside line wave of riders. From then on, the pace was too fast to regain position to contest the sprint. Got thru with the lead pack so lost no time and retained 16th overall.
So it was a really good experience. If had been in better shape for the time trial, I might have contested a better overall position, since I only lost 23 seconds to the winner over stages 2,3 and 4. Still, happy with 16th in a field of over 100.
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