Miserable weather but I had a great time! Took many photos and will post all of them to [url]http://flickr.com/photos/hmo/[/url] very soon. I will post some of the best Team Pinnacle shots to the gallery here.

Enjoy! I certainly did.

Hope you guys are warm and dry now.

H
 
It doesn't matter where you go in life .... it's who you have beside you.

H-

Thanks so much for the photo's, they are great! When you look at the order of the pictures, you can see how the race unfolded. Great stuff.

I would like to buy a few.

Thank you

Helen O'Neill, "the official photographer of team pinnacle"


PJ

OK, the digits are thawed and working again so it is time for a race report.

First, I must say I was impressed with everyone's attitude going into this event. I have been to several less than ideal weather races where we are all down and complaining. But yesterday we all were probably as positive as you could be in those conditions.

Once we all finished our pre-race press briefing the race started and the water began to spray. Throughout lap one there was always a CycleDepot jersey near the front making sure nothing silly happened off the front. At the top of Dewey hill myself and two others had gapped the field slightly. The other two were anxious to make it stick, but I wanted no part of it, shook my head no and sat up. When they realized I was not interested they drifted back to the group. That was the highlight of lap one for me. The rest of lap one was tame, sometimes painfully slow. Going slow gave you time to think about just how cold you were getting. Lap two started with Chris chearing us through the traffic circle. I drifted to the back to rest up a little for what was about to come, and Mark and Dan took control up front keeping everything in check. This was the low point of the race for me as the wet and cold started to get to me. "This sucks", and "I wish I was in my car right now", were some of the less colorful things going on in my head. As we approached Sunapee village I started working my way back to the front in preperation for the inevitable attacks that were coming. I hit the base of the Dewey climb with a slight advantage, then when the hill turned steeper I cranked up the effort. I was stealing glances under my arms looking for a wheel. About 3/4 up the hill the wheel came into sight then flew by, it was Lovely! I hopped on his wheel and struggled to keep up, he was riding strong. We crested the hill with a big gap and one cling-on. A quick survey of the situation and we decided this is the one to stick with. Through Georges Mills it was PJ and myself doing all the work, our cling-on not responding to our pleas for help. Was he tired or playing his own strategy? The climb out of Georges Mills would answer the question. I led 3/4 of the climb and then PJ blew by again with good news, we had dropped him. Cycledepot was now alone at the front. We took turns pulling and posing for Helen until Cardiac Hill. I led us up Cardiac and without realizing it gapped PJ. Flew down the back side hoping PJ's downhill advantage would close the gap. As I started the long gradual climb to Newbury I had a tough decision to make, go alone or wait for my team mate. If I had won one of these things before I probably would have made a different choice. But I looked at the gaps and decided to try it alone thinking it was the best chance to win. So up the hill and by the nice lady cheering us on like she knew us (found out later it was Lorie) I pushed as hard as I could. I wanted to say some going past Nathan, but I think my jaw muscles had frozen and I only managed to get out a grunt. The ride into Newbury was not the fun decent I am used to, someone messed with the road and made it feel mostly uphill. Going past Julie, Sandy, and Janet into the harbor I started to feel confident this was going to work, looking back nobody was in sight. Only four more rollers to the circle, now three, two, one, and there it is! This thing is over, just need to ease up the hill to the finish line and all the cheers. Great thought, but there was nobody there. I assume there were some folks in the timing tent, but I guess they did not consider me important enough to step out and cheer for. I stopped 10 feet past the finish to wait for the rest of the team hoping PJ was not caught. No such luck, PJ came across with the Dan and the rest chase group. He seemed to be OK with my tactics, but I may not go mountain biking alone with him for awhile. Seriously though, the race was won because of his efforts during the attacks.

This was a great win for our team, wish each one of us could have the medal. Big thanks to Chris for making the race happen and tutoring this group of misfits, even though I know we drive him nuts sometimes. And to all who came out in support of this event in those conditions, a huge thanks for making it possible for us to have so much fun.
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

It was a great Team effort. I was there at the finish cheering for you. Maybe the couphing muffled the cheers.

Congrats on the W Brian and congrats everyone else for finishing. I wish I could have been out there with ya.

Congrats to Chris, Sunapee S&W and Claremont Cycle Depot for doing such a great job.

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

http://www.eagletimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=3818&TM=45699.21

That's an awesome article guys, well done.

Ryan

Helen great job with the pictures. You know what happens when you do too good of a job, you become "the official photographer of team pinnacle".

Ryan

Funny how one would never think of working out in the yard on rainy and cold days but schedule a bike race and the weather just does not come into consideration. I went into this race with one specific goal. To finish with the main group. As most of you guys know this was my 3rd try in the Sunapee race. The first was very sad getting dropped on the first hill (Dewey) on the first lap. The second year it happened again only on the second lap at the same spot. Although I was sick last year I was still disappointed. This year was different with my three riding buddies there to encourage me and the knowledge that we knew we had a strong team and good potential to not only finish but win this year. The first lap was pretty uneventful and a little boring but that changed rather quickly early into the second lap. I did not react quickly enough on Dewey to follow Brian at the bottom and could not close the distance so I stayed with the first group and watched him and PJ pull away halfway up Dewey Hill. Mark and I road together from that point to the bottom of the hill at Otter Pond. We could see Brian and PJ about halfway up the hill when we made the corner. It was interesting to hear the other riders in the group talk about how they were going to go after them. I knew they couldn't close the distance. I never did see Brian again and only saw PJ again about 1 mile out of Newbury on 103A. PJ came into the group and told me Brian was alone and away. We knew he had it at that point. There were 13 riders in this group and it was hard to stay with them because I started cramping in my left then my right ham's Shortly after that the fronts of both my legs cramped and I don't know how I managed to turn over the crank it was very painful. I was the next to last of the first group to cross. Later I determined that I did not drink enough having only gone through less than one bottle for the entire race. I am happy with my finish and time unhappy with my lack of hydration, I know better. Looking at my time with the Master 55+ I would have taken 2nd so the rest of this year I will take in some events to move out of the Cat 5 35+ and stop racing people who are young enough to be my kid. Thanks everyone it was a great day.

I should have made this reply long ago ... but I was a bit overwhelmed in the aftermath of the Sunapee Road Race this year.

I was very impressed with how Dan, Mark, PJ, and Brian rode together. When they came through the traffic circle after the first lap ... it appeared to me that Mark and Dan were working the front of the field while Brian and PJ were itching to launch an attack on the second lap.

It sounds like that is exactly what happened. It was probably a good thing that Dan rode tempo at the front of the field instead of surging to maintain contact with Brian and PJ on Dewey Hill. Dan had already established himself as one of the field's strongmen ... so it was natural for other guys in the field to ride at the pace he was setting. Sometimes the best way you can help your teammates who are up the road is if you ride just hard enough to discourage any other attacks.

Mark has mentioned to me that Brian probably could have won without his contribution ... while this may be true ... there are two HUGE ways in which Mark, Dan, and PJ all contributed: 1. By enabling Brian to relax early in the race and attack on his terms instead of feeling he needed to react to the attacks of others ... and ... 2. By providing a little voice in the back of Brian's head that he needed to finish what he and his teammates had started.

I was thrilled to see how well you guys rode as a team and ... as Brian suggested ... did find myself feeling satisfied that, in a vert small way, I may have also contributed to the road racing success of Team Pinnacle!!!