Well, that was fairly fun, here is the story from my saddle. I will break it into three segments since that is how the race played out.

1. The warm-up
The first lap was pretty staight forward road racing stuff. The pelaton (cool, I used the word pelaton!) stayed together the entire first lap with no attempted breaks. I spent most of the lap near the front due to being uncomfortable in the middle of the pack. I probably caught a little more wind then I should have, but do not regret the choice.

2. Time to go
The pace picked up a little on the second lap until a strong headwind slowed things down. It was pretty funny watching everyone trying not to lead once we turned into that wind. It was not long before I started seeing folks that I had not seen the entire race moving towards the front, so I knew the time to go was coming soon. That time came as we exited Sunapee village and hit the first decent climb on the loop. What suprised me was that it was PJ who lead the attack. So I jumped on his wheel thinking he went too early. Then a guy shot by us (I later learned his name was Jack), so I jumped on his wheel, at the top of the hill we had a two person break.

3. Can we make it?
Once we got to the top of the hill Jack looked at me, "let's go for it!". I could either go for it, or fall back to the pack. which would have surely brought Jack back also. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the pack was still pretty big, so I said, "OK, show me the way". We still had 15 miles to go, so I was in no way confident this work. Jack and I worked well together and both climbed strong. We were able to catch and pass the other CAT5 pelaton on cardiac hill. I figured hiding in front of these guys and being out of sight had to be good. At this point team work was really starting to pay off. PJ and Mark were with the main pack making sure no solid chase was being organized. They created a big enough gap that by the time we rounded the corner in Newbury Harbor it was obvious the break would survive. Unfortunately, I was completely spent by the traffic circle and conceded first place. Second place ain't bad for a bunch of mountain bikers, we were all happy with the results. Not exactly our dream finish, but the team reacted well to the circumstances, finished in the money, and did nothing to embarass ourselves.

Now, back to the dirt please.
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

My view of this race was just a bit different, but generally similar to Brian's. The first lap was essentially uneventful, but did help me get accustomed to riding together. It appeared on the climbs there were a few more climbers than anticipated. I generally stayed out of wind and sucked wheels for the first lap. Fighting for position was interesting.......I just said "hey can I get in there?" and sure enough I was let in.

The wind got strong as we peddaled toward Sunapee on the 2nd lap. Of course our game plan was to ride the hill real hard and see if we would get a break. As the Peleton came into "dewey hill" I knew I was going, die or not. So I went hard, about 10 seconds too early. I didn't look back hoping both Gurney and Brian were coming. Brian pulled up along side me and said "too early" I didn't agree till another 50 yards in the red zone and I replied "yep, too early" another climber went by and Brian went on his wheel. I tried in vain to stay on their wheel as the 3 of us had a decent gap, As they pedaled away I slowed (not by choice) and descended with the pack. It didn't look like they would make it straight away, and at that point I was too tired to try and mess with the chase. Soon I recovered and was looking for Gurney to tell him of the plan to spoil any chases, I found Gurney already leading a slower pace and working for his teammate. We both stayed near the front occasionally taking a pull that wasn't sufficient for the chase group.

I was in a small break with 4 other riders on the hill after "cardiac hill". 2 of us had guys in the break and weren't helping and the other 3 didn't have the rhythm to catch the 2 escapes, Gurneys pack caught us and we rode pretty hard until the finish. At the traffic circle the pace was huge, I tried to keep the pace and by the time I was halfway up the hill, I had no legs left and got passed by 4 guys and ended up 9th.

Great fun race..........I enjoy the teamwork thing. Looking for Gurneys take on the race and Oneill's. Worth trying again as long as there are chance to break away, and hills come into play.

Brian and PJ told the race story well; I can only add a few defining moments form the Gurney point of view:

During registration, Brain and I unknowingly cut in line in front of some teenagers who weren't too happy with us as a result. (They were more like a mob than a line and the signs for the lines weren't entirely clear. I'm sorry, OK?) One of the young men spied my coffee cup and declared "You're gonna caffeine crash halfway through the first lap and we're gonna run you over."

The 35 and unders had a 3 minute earlier start over us older gentlemen. On the first lap, guess who was dropped by his pack halfway up the hill going into New London, and was passed by the 35+ Pack? Yep, the youngster who hasn't yet learned the glorious wonders of caffeine.

When PJ made his break up Dewey Hill, I tried like hell to keep up with him. "Cardiac Arrest" was coming to mind when Brian went around me (I'd like to think I gave him a few seconds of pull at the start of the break) and I gasped "Go Brian GO! I'll hold 'em back!" This may seem like good team tactics, but was really the best way to face the fact that I had to slow down or I was going to vapor lock.

I was so oxygen deprived, I don't really remember the details, but I think most of the pack was content to sit behind me, because Brian and his new friend closed the gap to PJ, and made a clean break. Somehow, PJ and I stayed more or less (PJ more, me less) in front, and I was more than happy to share the job of slowing the pack down.

At the bottom of Cardiac Hill, someone else in the front of the pack spotted Brian and his breakaway buddy at the top hill. He called out "We just about got 'em!" (or something like that) I answered, without too much sarcasm, "They're at the top, we're at the bottom. They'll be long gone before we're halway up" (or something like that). I think that declaration did a lot to defuse the pack's desire to reel in the breakaway. I was certain then we wouldn't see Brian until the finish.

PJ got over Cardiac Hill with four guys in close company. I got over shortly thereafter with three. My group put together a crisp paceline with 30 second pulls. Ever so slowly, we reeled them in and our two groups became one group of nine, ahead of the rest of the pack.

The rollers up from Newbury were a blast. I'd like to think PJ and I could have broken out, maybe bringing a few with us. But we stayed with the group, forcing a few others to do the bulk of the pulling.

As we entered the the traffic circle, I was second in the lead group (fourth overall) and I think PJ was right behind me. As we rounded the circle, PJ blasted by me, along with the others who we were riding with us. The pace up into the park was intense. I finished last of the group of nine. The only bright spot was the rest of the pack didn't quite catch me.

I can't claim I really helped Brian to the podium, but the intent was there, and Brian was kind enough to share his winnings in the form of lunch at Murphy's. I finished much better than my expectations and seeing Brian on the podium and PJ in top ten really made for a great day.