Jeff Cup Race Report - Masters 40+

Well, in my years of racing, I don’t think I’ve had the privilege to ride in such awful weather as today.

It was of course cold- 30’s somewhere. But around an hour before race time, it started to snow and sleet. A lot. But because the roads had been warmed by the sun last week, nothing was sticking. The roads were wet, the sky gray, the air cold. Oh joy. (more)

My return to the bike racing scene was hastily slapped together- I took over a year off, gained 15lbs and enjoyed many a barley soda. But sometime in February, I bound myself to the mast and signed up for Jeff Cup. Of course 6 weeks cannot undo 16 months of sloth, but I tried to snap into it.

I didn’t have any personal aspirations in this race, but wanted to fake my way into the first group and see if I could help out Mark and Bill Scanlon near the finish. I achieved the first, but alas not the second. My little house of cards wasn’t going to hold up the charging field at the finale.

The race had a 125 rider (well maybe some didn’t show, but that is how many registered) parade start from Walton School over to the start finish. The cold & wet was miserable. In fact, the 5 minute ride over to the start finish was the worst 5 minutes on a bike i’ve ever had. Spray from wheels meant that you were soaked front and back instantly. Then we shivered uncontrollably at the start/finish for 15 minutes waiting for the race to begin. Ugh.

Fortunately, we got underway, and either for tactics or just trying to stay warm, there were a lot of attacks on the first lap, Mark King initiating many of them. To some it was demoralizing, and the long rolls of DNF’s began filling almost immediately. The next 3 laps saw lots of breaks and attacks, but nothing really stuck. The main field was still over 50 riders, by my estimate, and there was no interest in letting a break go and ride in cold and wet for nothing.

As we started the 4th lap, the only thing that could make the race more miserable happened: Our race was stopped to allow the 1-2 pro race to ride through. So for 15 minutes or so, near the base of Blenheim hill, we stood by the side of the road and froze. And then it started sleeting again. Double Ugh. Ice cold, we headed up Blenheim for the 4th time, and I was hurting. The downhill allowed for regrouping, and we headed towards the Start/finish for the last lap.

And then all hell broke loose. Our race had been safe and smooth for 40 miles, and then there were 3 crashes on the last lap, ending chances for many riders and those caught behind a crash. Fortunately, no CRC riders went down, though Eric was caught behind some of the carnage. The whole peloton was some kinda crazy seesaw accordion of swarms. Not fun.

Going into the finale, Mark was were he always is- at the front. Bill Scanlon’s legs put him in the top 15, and I was about 10 spots behind him. Alive and well, but cold, and wet.

But that’s a Spring Classic, eh?