Spunk Lake Road Race Recap

The 7 man breakaway on Tower Road Hill from Skinnyski.com

Pat Lemieux, of Texas Roadhouse Cycling, won the Cat 1/2/3 Spunk Lake Road Race in commanding fashion. He joined a breakaway of 7 riders early in the race, and soloed away to victory with about 20 miles left in the race. He finished about 20 seconds clear of what turned out to be a field sprint.

50 guys lined up for the 90 mile Cat 1/2/3 Spunk Lake Road Race in Avon, MN. With 90 miles in the plan, the pace was very subdued for the first 10 miles, until a couple of opportunists decided to give it a go. First to go away was Mark Byrnes. Followed by Scott Hebel, Jay Henderson, and finally Jim Cullen. The 4 joined forces, and with the field staying in check, they quickly gained time.

Once the gap grew to 2 minutes, riders started attacking the field to try and bridge the gap. Ultimately, it would be 3 riders who make it across. Pat Lemieux, Dave Hackworthy, and Mark Skarpohl.

With 60 miles left to race, it was unlikely that this was the winning move, but Lemieux captained the break, and kept them motivated.

With 20 miles remaining, and the group down to 6 riders (Byrnes dropped), Lemieux decided it was time to fly the coop. It took a couple attempts, but he was able gain a reasonable gap of around 30 seconds.

The tired breakaway group gave chase, but knew the field as coming up from behind. With Lemieux still out front, a small group from the field were the first to reach the breakaway including Tony Olson, Dewey Dickey, Mike Woell, and Adam Bergman.

With Lemieux's dangerous teammate, Bergman, in the chase group, they hesitated a bit in their chase, and what was left of the field joined the chase group.

With Pat in sight, the field was content to keep it close, but not close it down. Unfortunately, they underestimated him a little, and came up 20 seconds short at the finish line. Congrats to Patty Cakes on the win.