DanBrodeen
Well-Known Member
Whoops, Wednesday already!
Not sure what I was expecting. @Norm and @UtahJoe took a peek on Friday and had nice things to say. Some mention of climbing...
Rolled out early to get a lap in before the fast boys went off at 9. The laps were short, so a half hour to play with meant a no-stress preride. Prologue through a field? Check. 500 yards or so of rolling wide occasionally toothy river road?
Check.
Wall.
Check.
Wait. Wall? Wall.
With no warm up, I found myself doing climbing intervals for the next 12 or so minutes.
To be fair, @DanBrodeen peppered the wall with lil flat bits that made it possible find a scrap of dignity, and air, in the midst of the donkey work. But still, wall.
Check.
Top of the hill groovy rollers, and pretty much the last place to pass before the finish line? Check.
Enduro-bro downhill?
Check.
Gnarly 180 followed by slick speedy bits and a water crossing?
Check.
Drama finish?
Check.
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Peeped @jShort's start. Looked ridiculous fast. He was out there with some cx beasts, so it was gonna be a battle. 6 laps for the speedy kids. They were doing the laps in the high 15s, low 16s. This, I would come to realize, is ridiculous.
@MadisonDan and I hung out on the field. He was very patient as I warmed up the CX heckling motor and only ruined one kid's childhood. We both agreed it was hot and this was a stupid idea.
Despite all the smart parts of me saying GO HOME! I lined up with the rest of the oldsters at 11pm. Initially, it looked like the pre-reg'd 11 racers mostly skipped and it was gonna be me, Rob Ost and some nice random dude. Podium!
Cut to: all the other riders behind us swarming forward. I guess we looked older than the 50+? So now we were 11. And some of these guys looked ripped. Sh*t.
Despite starting with the juniors, we were strung out pretty well by the time we hit the uphill. Sure enough, it hurt. The speedsters hit it and were gone. I was too busy keeping my front wheel on the ground on the switchbacks to count how many were off the front. I assumed a billion.
I dialed in on Rob, who's usually a bit faster'n me in cx season because of training, and was pleasantly surprised to find myself in a group of 5 or 6 of my peers, and not dying on the hills. Which meant I was going too slowly.
That's when Chris Ciocc, who missed the start, came through. With alacrity.
Chris ain't big. He climbs well.
And he sucks on downhills.
I suck at both those things, but I thought I'd hitch my caboose to his engine for as long as I could, and mebbe put some distance between myself and the rest of the oldsters.
So for the next 3.5 laps the race looked like this:
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On the last lap, for a moment, it looked like this (I was told it was business casual):
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But that was literally the ONLY moment I was in front of him.
And to be honest, this was the result of him blowing a hairpin. I didn't WANT to be in front. But I did take advantage a bit and slow us down so I could recharge my remaining 2032 battery for the massive surge I'd make on the rollers at the top of the hill.
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There. Was. No. Surge. Not there. The hill had killed me, again.
However! With the 2 minutes of descending came 2 minutes of not pedaling. Followed by the grassy finish, which was the water crossing, a sharp bump and three wide fast turns into the timing gate. No straightaways. I'd been sussing it every lap, looking for the line.
Chris was still leading at the water crossing, but I was feeling better. I gassed it at the bump, pegged to his right as we hit the grass... And realized he was sitting up.
Quandry: does one dust the guy who's been pulling you through the entire race in the last 100 yards because he has a brain-fart? In a cx race, 100% yes. Here, in Stroudsburg, on a 95 degree day, when we've been having a blast, and making solid polite passes together, calling out that BOTH of us are passing? No door slamming, no yelling, lots of please and thank you?
Nah.
So I scream "SPRINT!"
He does. He jukes left on the inside of the first corner, then starts to cross over, going for the inside right line, but I'm already there, elbows out, still a bit behind him. He gives me the line, but as I'm coming out, he's already full gas. I gun, but it's Chris by a wheel.
Assuming we've been racing for billionth-place we introduce ourselves, shake hands and get the hell out of the sun.
The results are posted and I'm 3rd. Mind blown. As I don't know the players, and I'm sh*t at spelling and math, I assume this means Chris is 2nd, and tell him this in the parking lot.
Turns out no. They reversed the sprint.
So five minutes before the podium, the penny drops. I ask the scoring folks to check the video. Sure enough, I'm a foot behind him at the line. @DanBrodeen is kind enough to give me Chris's number and I have the pleasure of telling him all is right with the world and that as he's already in Stroudsburg eating a hot dog, we'll miss him on the podium and his friend Carl will get his new water bottle and drink coozie to him.
Ost 5th, Me 4th, Chris 3rd and some talented rando's further up the food chain.
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I think I would have been grabbing Chris's ass had he been there, so I think it's best he was gone. For his sake.
Our lap times were fairly pedestrian:
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Vs @jShort's, which were breathtaking:
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UPSHOT?
This race is awesome. The short laps meant you got to see folks more than once during the race. The music skewed toward Europop, which was a welcome change from the usual Nickleback. The food and coffee vendors were awesome, and organization was great. Never lost, never wondering where the bathrooms were. Parking was close and easy, blah blah blah.
In short @DanBrodeen and the Pocono Bike Club folks know their sh*t and take care of their people.
I really really hope this make the calendar next year, as it's absolutely worth the drive.
Just gotta remember to lose 20lbs.
Absolutely loved your recap man! Thanks for supporting our event! We’ll be back for 2020 for sure!