Turtle Pond Road Race - April 24, 2010

Turtle Pond 2010-

Thank you and good job go to Brad Sheehan and his team for putting on a great race. Super roads, excellent venue, and good people, the sunny New England spring day was welcome. When I arrived early for my pre race preparation it was 38 degrees at 7:30AM and was almost 60 degrees during the race with warm sun, I raced in shorts and dark lenses.

Brad obviously has a great relationship with the town of Loudon NH and the school that generously provides the parking and registration area. The race provides donations to the school each year in reciprocation that are significant. Brad mentioned that his teams sponsors contribute as well making for a obviously strong relationship all the way around, a nice example of how to promote and support regional cycling.

The race started neutral going up the hill, within in the first mile of racing a couple of guys rolled off the front, Carl Reglar (Team Danbury Audi/Pedal and Pump) and a OA/Cyclemania guy, we were on a slight descent so I gave a little gas to bridge, the OA/Cyclemania rider looked strong and put in some good pulls, Carl and I matched them and we quickly had a gap. Not sure what the group was thinking, other than it was too early for a move to stick, and the fact the OA/Cyclemania had nine riders making them the best represented team in the race. As the gap grew I was confident that at least John Grenier my FUJI/Clif Bar team mate and the OA/Cyclemania team would patrol the front.

The three of us worked well together for the first of 5 laps, the OA/Cyclemania rider lost contact on some of the rollers on the second lap and disappeared completely starting the third lap. The support car had slotted in behind Carl and me and was giving time splits, 3 minutes, and then 4.5 minutes, the gap was growing. With two to go (each lap is 11 miles, so 22 to go) we had 6.5 minutes. I was skeptical as I felt that must have been a mistake, we came upon many dropped riders from other racers and caught and passed what I thought was the 35+ race, but could have been the 3’s or did we catch and lap the 45+’s? The point is that I was not confident in the time gap given by the support car was correct and kept the pace strong and encouraged my breakaway companion knowing that we still had a lot of work to do.

The last time up the hill with one to go I saw John G at the side of the road dressed, unfortunately he had a mishap and crossed wheels and went down and had to abandon as his bike was unrideable. He did mention that we had time on the group, the support car again came up to us after I motioned for a time check, and simply said they were not sure but that we were well over 6.5 minutes. My legs were still good, so I kept the pressure on and we continued to work well together. At this point I shifted my focus on how to win the race, I may have had the horse power to surge and drop him on one of the many rollers but decided to leave it to the end. I had the confidence to out sprint Carl as the new finish suits me with a fast run in to the last 1,000 meters, and a slight uphill for the last 200. Carl initiated the sprint just inside the 200 meter sign, I reacted and was able to come around him and create enough of a gap to roll over the line first.

As I write this Sunday evening I am still unsure as to the time gap to the group, the posted results after the race showed us all with the same time. Tom Francis got a nice result with third by separating himself from the group and soloing in an attempt to bridge. It is interesting how one can be in a bike race and not really know what happened and have to wait for Bikereg.com to post results to better understand how it all played out.

I recommend the race and encourage you to race it next year, you will not be disappointed, and I have a tip, go early…