Saturday, April 22, 2006 - Concord, New Hampshire
6 laps around an 11.4 mile rolling circuit through a very scenic part of New Hampshire with a hard (over 1 K) uphill finish located about 8 miles from the start-line. Over 70 guys lined up [at the start] located at a cemetery and complete with a bag-piper "piping" away, giving you a feel of England (or rather Scotland) in the lovely New England state of New Hampshire! Wow! The weather was true to form for an early season NorEast race---cloudy, overcast and cool.
The domestic peloton is such a small world that you often end up running into fellow racer's no matter which side of the coast you're on. Jay Gump (formerly with Webcor---and he won the master's race) and Marc Collard (also formerly of Webcor, now working in Maine) were some recognized faces at the crowded start-line. And for the first time of the season, Mike donned his "Seven Cycles" colors, along with his trusty Seven Axiom Race. How cool is it to get to race for the company you work for? And, true to my "poser" form, I also donned my "Seven Cycles" color's, while riding my even cooler (ha!) Seven Aerios.
Once the Pro 1/2 field rolled down the road, I hopped on my bike and followed them! I am in love already with the roads in New Hampshire. I haven't ridden in such a lovely place since our trip to Grand Marais last summer. Twisty, rolling and woodsy roads, beautiful architecture and smooth pavement. As I rode up the long climb at the finish line, I knew this would be a hard race!
Game ON! An early break had already formed which included Mike and maybe 5 other guys; Mike sprinted to take the first KOM points. The rest of the field came through---looking a bit shattered, about 3 minutes later. This was definitely the winning move as the break was never to be seen again by the chasing pack. And each time through, it was awesome to see Mike, looking "true-to-Taylor" in form at the front of the race! It was also an added bonus to watch him wax the rest of the guys for the final KOM points on the fifth lap!
The final lap is when things got hairy though. One mile or so from the finish...after repeated attacks (where MT had escaped off the front), the guys in the break would chase him down and then sit on...instead of pull through. Then in frustration and chaos, one of the guys clipped Mike's wheel and crashed him out! Sigh...That's bike racing. (I almost forgot it's been so long!). His chain got tangled up to make things even more annoying plus his front wheel was taco'd and his bars were all banged up. A bloody and torn "Big Mig" rolled in for 9th place---Ugh! Even the winner of the race came up to him and said he was the strongest guy, and the guy who "clipped" him was apologizing profusely. Sigh again.
Here's a funny thing. I was back at reg to pick up his KOM prize while he did his warm down ride, and I hear, "Hey Palo Alto girl...Julie? Joanne..no, Joni!" I turn to look and I see this gal (Paula) who stopped into PAB before the San Francisco T-Mobile Race in 2004. She was in town for the race and wanted to get her bike (A Seven Alaris) ready for the race. I looked at her gears (after admiring her bike of course) and asked her if she'd seen the course. She said "Not yet". I suggested some different gearing, and she said she never would have finished that race if I hadn't encouraged her to put a 32 cog on her bike! (Another small-world in cycling encounter.)
And for an "out of this world" cycling encounter; remember that guy, his last name is Martin (his wife is Sharon and his two Italian Greyhounds dogs are Maggie and Roman)? He's that one-legged triathlete who recently went to the para-olympics. Anyway, he was there racing his very first road race. He finished in the middle of the pack. He puts new meaning to the "I could beat him if I only pedaled with one leg!" I think his spirit, determination and obvious talent humbled and amazed the rest of the guys in his field. He certainly was an inspiration to the fans at the finish line. Gosh I love this sport!
We've got a double header next weekend. Feels good to be racing again!
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