Sqaure Lake Road Race Wind, Rain, and Gravel
After a poor showing in WI I opted for the masters race at Square Lake. The course included three sectors of gravel per lap, one small ring climb and a few really rough washboard sections and an off camber descent or two. I think we did five laps of the course, the last two in the rain which made the race even cooler. All told I think we raced through 15 sections of the soft & loose stuff. This was a new course and I hope the promoters use it again. I love racing like this as it tests your equipment, your head, and your legs. I’ve found that riding gravel takes a bit of finesse. You have to ride light on your bike and let the front end float a bit. At the same time you can’t weight the back of your bike too much or you risk a puncture. It’s a subtle thing but, when you’re doing it right, I think it makes a diference.
Typically, the masters field is pleasantly free of big egos, negative racing, f bombs, etc.. I also like it that it’s a bit safer and I have had the most fun racing with these guys this year. Today I was really happy with the legs despite Pete Hanna being the best in the final sprint. I’m not sure it would have made the difference but I chased down an attack with about 2K to go on the last downhill gravel section before the final turn. I brought the flyer back but also gave most of the field a leadout into the finale. Another mistake was lining up for the sprint near the yellow line. This allowed Pete to jump on the right side of the road and get the gap needed to hold me off for the win. Before I could react he was three lengths ahead with Mike Johnson (Chippewa Valley Cycling Team)) in tow. The uphill sprint was into a slight wind and the two crossed the line a half a second in front of me. I placed third. Pete was pretty happy with a nice win and I later learned that he had flatted (along with a few others) on one of the gravel sectors. The best move of the day goes to Pete’s Bikethrow.com teammate, Dan Cleary. Seeing that Pete flatted Dan stopped and gave him his wheel allowing Pete to rejoin the group. Dan’s race was over but Pete went on to win. Teammate defined.
I think the finale result may have been a bit different is Jay Woller (Flanders) hadn’t flatted with one lap to go. Jay was riding well all day and he flatted in a terrible place. Jay is a good sprinter and I think the mix at the end would have included him had he not been forced to abandon. Brent also rode well in the gravel sections. He seemed to be improving as the race went on. Mikey P and Jim Bell were both solid too. Jim seemed to be having fun the entire race. Only 24 riders finished the event, many out with punctures from the rough secttions.
Result: http://mcf.net/index.php/results?view=event&layout=results&eventKey=204
