Cleghorn Road Race Recap

One more WISPORT race complete, as the 2007 season comes to a close. I pulled off my second WISPORT road race win, to go with Dairy Days back in July. This time I was able to get away solo (you inspired me Timmer) with about a mile to go. I friggin raised my arms again as I crossed the line. It was like a natural response, I didn't even realize it until I did it. Oh well.

There were actually 2 races at Cleghorn. People could choose between a single lap, or 2 lap race. I did the longer 44 mile race, while Jordan chose the 22 mile race.

Jordan finished an incredible 4th overall in his race! He got into a 4 man break after the halfway point, and they stayed away to the finish. He said there was a guy off the front solo, and he tried to bridge up by himself. He didn't make it, then another guy caught up to him, and Jordan jumped on his wheel to make it the rest of the way. One more joined them, and they were gone. What an awesome move, and great result. Congratulations Jordo!

Click here for results.

Detailed Recap:
I was really hoping I could pull off the win at Cleghorn. I've got good fitness right now, but I knew it wouldn't be easy by any means. Spring Street Sports had a strong team there with Mike Johnson, Gordy Paulson, Tristan Bentzler, and others. Brones Bike Shop was there too with Mark Brone, Mike Suntgen, Jim Moore, and co. Matt Muyres was also there from Silver Cycling.

The race was fast right from the start with Jim Moore attacking after the first turn. I was able to join him along with a few others, as we punched our way over the rollers. 4 of us rotated on the front to keep the pressure on as a few others were able to bridge across. As we turned into the tailwind section, there were 12 of us: Johnson, Bentzler, Muyers, Brone, Moore, Ping, Wilcox, Statz, Kinart, Paulson, Frank, and myself. Brone dropped back to help Suntgen get across, but they couldn't make it back to the group.

Getting an efficient rotation going with 11 guys is tough, but we were still able to pull away from what remained of the field. We worked well together for most of the remainder of the 1st lap. There were a few attacks, but no one ever got more than a few seconds gap. As we approached the last hill before the finish, Bentzler attacked and got a small gap. He was able to stay away through the finish, only to be caught in the rollers at the start of the second lap.

As soon as we caught Bentzler, Johnson attacked hard up a climb, and I followed. We pulled a pretty good gap and worked together to stay away. We held our gap to the turn into the tailwind, and kept pressing, hoping the chasers would give up. Statz bridged solo across to the 2 of us, but wouldn't pull through. By the time we talked him into working with us, we were all but caught, and we sat up. Then it was Paulson's turn to counter, and get a gap. Moore did a lion's share of the work to get close, and then left the rest to us. I knew Gordy did a long ride Saturday, so I wasn't as worried about him, as much as I would be normally.

Once we brought Gordy back, Johnson took off again, but we were all ready for that move. We hit the long climb pretty hard, and our group splintered. 7 of us made the front group, with the rest chasing. As we entered the last few miles, we noticed the chase group had grown by a couple. It turns out Brone and Suntgen were gaining on us, and had joined the guys we dropped. Johnson asked if we should work together, and I shouted lets go. All seven of us worked in a smooth rotation, but the chasers were still gaining, as we hit the last hill before the finish.

During my warm-up, I figured it would be a good move to go on the hill before the finish, since there is only about a mile to the finish, and it's mostly downhill, albeit with a headwind. We got about halfway up the climb, and I decided to make my move. I gunned it as hard as I could, and luckily, no one followed immediately. That was enough for me and I buried it all the way to the line. I was able to hold off Johnson, Muyers, and the hard charging group by 5 seconds.

I scored a plate and medal for my efforts. Jordan scored a medal too. All that's left on the road race calendar for us now is the "Wisport Worlds" in Alma, WI in 2 weeks.