Durand Road Race

Felt good to get in the first road race of the season. Jordan raced the Cat5's and I did the Masters 35+. The rain held off, temp in the high 40's, and a light NE wind.

Jordan's race was 2 laps, or 27 miles. He said the first lap was a slowish 18mph average. He said he led the group for most of the last lap. Unfortunately, the women's field caught them a few miles from the finish on the first big hill. Teresa politely asked the Cat5's who should finish first, and one of the guys told them to go ahead. They got a good gap, but then one of the riders attacked the group solo, and Jordan gave chase with the field in tow. They caught him, but as Jordan led into the final corner, he could see the women were right in front of them. Another rider attacked, and led a few Cat5's around the women. Jordan got caught behind at first, but then made his way through, and chased after the others. He was able to get around all but one of them to finish an impressive 2nd place. Very well done Jordan!

The Masters 35+ race was 4 laps for 54 miles. With Painman on baby watch, I had teammates Goblirsh and Rennert to work with. Bagley was back racing for Grandstay, but they were short handed with Cragle out with his shoulder, and Charlie Jacobs getting ready to tie the knot later that day. So it was just Bagley, Coyle, and Bell. GSCA had a ton of guys, and Hollywood had a solid showing too.

With numbers in their favor, GSCA launched Mark Dykes off the front on the first lap, and he stayed away for about a lap. On lap 2, GSCA launched Dave Peterson, and he stayed away for about a lap. It was all back together halfway through the 3rd lap, when the Masters 45+ group came through us. They were finishing, and we had another lap, so we intended to let them go, but they ended up coming back after the 2nd big hill. Thankfully, we didn't affect the outcome of their race, as there was a break of 3 ahead of them, who stayed away to the finish.

The 4th lap was fairly subdued with Pete Maxwell taking a healthy turn on the front. Then Bell punched it over the top of the hill on the South stretch, and took Goblirsh and Binkowski with him. They worked together to grow the gap, and with only Silver Cycling chasing, it was pretty clear they were gone. Greg Tischler and Dave Pramann tried to bridge but didn't make it. Pramann ended up coming back to us, while Tishler was stuck in no mans land.

Snide pulled us the rest of the way in like a horse, but no one else would help. Up in the leading 3, Goblirsh was able to take the win, with Bell 2nd, and Binkowski 3rd. Tischler rolled in for 4th. Pramann won the field sprint for 5th.

A most excellent race, and a ton of fun. Good job to everyone. Congratulations to teammate Goblirsh on a well earned and deserved win. See everyone next week a Ken Woods.