CAT1/2/3
Here is Joe K's race action recap:
"Hunter, Steven, and I lined up for the P123 race. My goal for the day
was to sit in, stay safe, and see if I could pull anything out in the
end. Last time I raced Bethel was 3 years ago when I broke my collar
bone! So was just looking to get through this one safe and get the
monkey off my back. It was a chilly 38° with a stiff 15+mph wind
blowing. Conditions were OK, sandy corners and flats, and a wet melting
snow crossing half way down the hill after turn one. Our race was cut to
30laps due to a pretty bad crash in the 3 /4 race. An early group got
off the front but nothing to serious. I decided to pull it back after a
few laps. Once together the move of the day took off and Hunter was able
to go with it. A solid group of strong riders, maybe 8-9 guys including
,Eneas Freyre, Jordan Lynn, Champsys guy, Sean Cahill. They stayed away
but never got more than a 10-20 sec lead. The main field seemed content
to just let them dangle. Hunter and a few others came unglued from
attacks within the break with about 7 or 8 laps to go.
A few late
attacks from the field strung things out with 4 or 5 laps to go but did
not work. Steven was off the back fighting fatigue from the previous 3
/4 race but hung tough. I was not going to risk a knock down drag out
sprint for 8th place so I stayed tough with the front group and took 16th. My legs were good and I felt like I could have landed a top ten but was glad to finish safe."
CAT3/4
This race was the main focus of Stephen G's for the day. Christian Duncan was also out for his first race of the season! Here is Stephen's race action recap:
"Christian stuck around from the Cat 4 race to join me for the 3/4. It was a good size field with a few guys trying to get things going. The Green Live Velo and FGX teams both had 4+ riders. I sat mid pack waiting to see who was going to go and when a break got going with an FGX, GLV, and Aetna/Expo guys in it I knew it was probably time to get up there. That said it was a group of about 8 and wasn’t sure how well they would work together or if the pack would bridge for me. After two laps of trying to time things I saw an opening and shot up the hill, around turn one, and bridged up but it was like showing up to the JR prom…no one wanted to dance. The break was moving slow and soon after the entire group came together with about maybe 8 laps to go. I figured things wouldn’t stay away for anyone from this point on so I sat in toward the front of the group and coming in to the last turn before the hill I saw the guys go and launched moving up a spot or two but mostly maintaining 6th position. I have to say I hesitated a bit after hearing what sounded like a car crash in the pack behind. Joe re-capped my first attempt at a 123 race pretty well. With the shortened length it was like a CX race…whistle... FULL GAS!"
CAT4
Here is Christian's race recap:
"The road conditions were decent except for all of the gravel which
kept flying in my face throughout the race (water on the course didn't
happen until after my first race finished). The pace was pretty relaxed
but several riders must have been dropped anyway because we finished
with far less than we started. It wasn't much effort when tucked in the
group but if you ventured out of it you got hit in the face with some
serious head-wind. Very few breakaway attempts. About halfway through
the race (10 laps to go or so), a small group of 6 riders split off on
the climb. I accelerated up the hill to join them. I first latched on
to 4 of them who had already sat up, swung around them and tried to
catch the lead group of two about 20 yards ahead. Hitting the headwind,
I wasn't making much progress, looked over my shoulder and saw the
field catching up to me (and the leaders). So, I rejoined the group to
recover. Four others immediately swung around to catch the other two
and the six of them stayed a few seconds ahead for about a lap. But it
was gruppo compacto with at least 8 laps to go and basically stayed that
way until the end.
I pretty much stayed in the middle to back of the field for
most of the race but did push my way forward to the top 5 or so on the
climb with 5 laps to go, hoping to stay near the front. My nervousness
got the better of me, and I wasn't able to fight for the top slots
because by the end of the lap I was near the back again. On the last
lap, I still was lingering near the back as everyone was trying to get
to the front and took up the whole half of the road (yellow line rule
until last climb). Just before the final climb, I decided to cross the
line anyway (they didn't say where the climb started), fought the
headwind, and worked my way to about middle of the field, maybe
10th-15th position, but it came at a cost as halfway up the hill my legs
blew up and I dropped back fast. Ended up 25th but with the main
field."
MASTERS 40+
Miquel was out for his first race of the year. He battled a shredded feild and windy conditions to come at 37th
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