Gurney, Lovely and Oneill headed up to Bow for a tune-up for Great Glen. I elected to do this race because last time I raced at Fort Rock, I ate dirt, rocks and roots, and didn't need to lose confidence going into Great Glen.

Early morning start was nice as we lined up with 50 other 35+'s in the Cat 5. The start proved interesting as it started off with a 1 mile climb. Needless to say, we weren't paying attention well as a few got off the front at the opening bell never to be seen again. It was a course of 3 10.5 mile laps. The beginning of each lap had the majority of climbing, and we thought we would launch either an attack or pace fast up the climb on the second lap. It was evident that this field was in much better shape than Sunapee. Lap 2, I launched only to be stuck in no mans land. The group ahead had about 5-7 guys which I dangled in back of at 5 seconds, but noone was behind. Not knowing if I could stay with them on the 3rd and final lap I rested at the crest of the climb and got in a group of 5 to chase. WE stayed together the rest of the race getting glimpses of the the CHase 1 group often, and occasionally seeing the Chase 3 group behind us that contained Skrocki and Gurney. I believe Dan was in the Peleton(chase 4) as his 15 minute warm-up wasn't sufficient for his legs. THe last lap it appeared they wanted me to lead out for the final sprint as I was the biggest guy, and led the last 1/2 mile before the finishing strait. I didn't care as I probably recovered most after the climbs in the back. THey sprinted by, I didn't react (couldn't) and ended up 4th in my little group of 6. Didn't stick around for results but top 15 seemed likely.

Really fast race. A bit of a bummer we didn't warm up that well, as we may have at least kept that first group from going off on Lap 1. It wouldn't have changed much, but it would make my guilt go away.

Currier would like these climbs.

Great Glen time.

PJ

Unofficial Team Pinnacle photographer and local support crew and cheerleader Jack Daley took some fine pictures of today's Bow Road Race and Chris Naimie in yesterday's Concord Crit. I'll get them to Ryan for posting ASAP.

Today's race course for us Cat 5's was three laps of a little over 10 miles each, with over 1,000 feet of climbing per lap. That's about twice the climbing of a typical road ride around here.

The big climb was early in the lap. First lap was tough but I hung in there. Early on the second lap PJ surged. I tried to stay with him, and passed a bunch of people in doing so. A minute later they were all passing me! I reeled some back in, managed a strong finish to the climb, and became part of the third group. We stayed together until the middle of the third lap, when the flat ground (?) pace became too much for me to handle, and I finished the race solo.

Solo enough that I turned into the school instead of crossing the finish line. I turned around, re-entered the course, and was yelled at by the officials for riding on the course! I don't know how many places I lost, but I know I was behind #569 (I sat on his wheel desparately trying not to get dropped!) last before I made my error.

It was a fun race - I might do it again with a better warmup. Thanks PJ for the ride down and for bringing my bike and bag back. And thanks to Jack for the pics, and the hospitality.

GG, here we come!

MG

I added the images to the Gallery: [url]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/gallery/view_album.php?page=1&set_albumName=Bow-Road-Race-8-5-2007[/url]

Ryan

This was a real bugger of a course. The start has you going directly into a long climb followed by a short down hill and then into another long climb. I should have brought my resistance trainer to warm up on and if I do this one again I will. On the second climb I gapped back about 100 feet from PJ and Mark and never could regain the loss. I rode in no man land for a few miles and was picked up by a group of about 15-20 riders. Stayed with them for the duration doing my share of the work. Sprinted at the end and did well. I liked the early start. Both PJ and I were home by noon. It was well organized and people were friendly. Wonderful weather too.
Dan