Dubstoevsky 168 (1 hour 7 minutes 20 seconds behind the winner)
The Virginian 169
I-ward 247
In my narrative of the race, I referenced, in what I hoped would be understood as comic hubris, "animosity and dissension" on Team Shad. Of course, there wasn't any. That was a narrative trick, a handy comedic detail. My whole account of the day is, as I hope readers realize, imbued with jest and deliberate hyperbole.
Allez! Back to the race itself.
There were really all kinds of bikes and approaches to the race including fixed speed bikes, tandems, high end cyclocross bikes, road bikes. There were serious gear heads decked out in all sorts of sweet cycling clothes as well as some nuttier folks wearing shorts and one guy (at least) in sneakers and sweatpants (see below). There were solo mercenaries, gregarious strangers, smiling faces, grimly set jaws, the fit, the unfit, and the unshakable. Everyone lined up together on a side street in a massive bunch and we all huddled in the cold, impatient eager for the race to get underway.
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| The relaxed approach (Note the dude on the right in sneakers) |
Finally, announcements, thank-yous, and acknowledgements of all kinds done with, we got underway. As we waited in the rear for everyone to get underway, it became apparent that the neutral 1 mile start would still be a competitive stretch. As I rounded the corner onto Main St. and started heading out of town, already the front pack was hammering away into the distance. And though I needle The Virginian for his aggressive tactics, in hindsight it was the right thing to do and we should have all three of us made a surge to get as far up ahead as possible.
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| Neutral Mile The Virginian making his first move of the day |
Even as the race spread itself out in the first couple miles along the lake, I somehow got it in my mind that we weren't as far in the rear as we were. I imagined a hustling pack of 30 guys way out ahead and then a more reasonable contingent of slower riders not that far ahead and possibly within reach. Wrong! As this excellent video (shot I think on Back Coventry Road) shows, the front of the race was still a lot of guys, a hundred or more, and they were charging along! No way were we going to catch any of these guys unless they cracked and lagged behind, though I'm glad I didn't realize that at the time. Thinking I could bridge gaps gave me incentive to ride as hard as I could.
The video is about eleven minutes long and is shot from the top of a long dirt climb. Seeing the leaders come hammering up the slope is impressive! About 3 mins and 45 seconds after the main charge, The Virginian and I, Dubstoevsky, pedal into view moving at a considerably slower clip. What is interesting is that by this point we had given up hope of I-ward ever making contact with us but as you can see in the footage, I-ward powers up the hill on his own a little more than three minutes after us, right around the 6:30 mark. But we didn't know that at the time. So we kept on.
Miscellaneous Images and Comments
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| Fairly typical landscape |
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| The onset of the section known as Cyberia And this was the good section |
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| Just before the long stretch of pavement into a strong headwind The Virginian marks the Green Lantern (wearing an Ireland jersey) and gradually grinds away from me |
We know now how this race works so next year we'll approach it differently. First lesson? Get to the starting line with more than 10 minutes to spare! Whether you belong among the elite cyclists or not, get right in there at the front of the pack and have your go. Let the elite worry about riding away from you rather than you worrying about trying to catch up to them.
Don't bother trying to stick together unless you know you're evenly matched and agree to work together. And even then you need to be wary of your mates. The Rasputitsa can, apparently, confound a rider's moral compass so without even realizing it a previously mellow companion can morph into a fiend who'll leave friends in the breech, shamelessly draft others, and generally claw and scrape and snarl like a feral Maine Coon cat. It's best to understand this in advance so that when The Change comes over your heretofore loyal domestique and he or she launches an attack on you, you're ready to counter the move.
Joking aside, all three of us, The Virginian, I-ward, and Dubstoevsky loved the experience and are all eager for next year's edition. We'll be ready ... and that means these guys better start worrying now!
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| The Winners! This is as close as I got to them all day (L-R) Ted King, 2nd, Ansel Dickey, 1st, Tim Johnson, 3rd |
Indeed, next year bodes well. The town of Newport has already erected a statue honoring the participation of Team Shad. A gracious touch.
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| Town monument to Team Shad |
Parting Shot
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| Captain Dubstoevsky slipping past the steely Virginian at the finish line |
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