Reading 120
Wet. That's a fair description of the 120 mile race through Berks county this past weekend. A 70 mile outer loop followed by 5 finishing circuits in downtown Reading that included a 4.5km climb up Mount Pen made for a long and hard fought 120 mile race. Add in a consistent and sometimes torrential downpour of rain and you have a mess of a race. 192 starters and 41 finishers. Ouch.
The race was on from the drop of the flag. Through the twists, turns and rolling hills attacks were flying left and right with the peloton completely strung out. It took 80 minutes for the break to be established. I thought I was in the right group when 15-20 of us were up the road about 20 seconds but an Airgas rider hit the deck shattering all cooperation and splitting the breakaway group. The rider went down after bumping his front wheel on the rider ahead and crashed right in front of me, I was fortunate to ride through it, and by through I mean over his legs and seat post (thanks mountain biking). Felt terrible doing it but it was that or hit the pavement, no thanks. The 5 of us left up the road were gobbled up about 5 minutes later. As I slunk backwards into the peloton the next break went and the field shut down shortly after. Opportunity missed, but that's racing. In that first 80 minutes we averaged 45.2kmh (28mph), max speed 88kmh (54.5mph), NP 390, and avg. HR 180. So it wasn't easy.
Astellas, Jet Fuel, and Jamis controlled the pace as we continued the outer perimeter keeping the break within striking distance and never letting their advantage go beyond 2:00. It kept the field strung out until entering back in to town. Another fall around a wet corner briefly split the peloton again and after the regroup the pace quickened upon entered town. Ripping through West Reading at 25-30mph we were about to cross the bridge into downtown Reading and the beginning of the circuits when an ambulance came flying across the course at an intersection. It stopped in time that no riders hit the side of the ambulance but it did take out a lead moto and the ensuing nerves as riders attempted to maneuver around the ambulance caused a huge pile up. I was lucky to brake just in time to cross dismount, runner over the heap of riders and begin the chase to the few that got around no problem. Unfortunately Dakota hit the deck, I remember seeing his Diamondback on the ground as I leapt over and hoped it wasn't one of our guys. He was doing an amazing job guiding me into position for the circuits. Once in Reading we crossed a set of diagonal railroad tracks that caused more casualties, 3-4 guys out of the break crashed on it and my rear wheel kicked a good 2 or 3 feet as I went over it, fotunatley I kept it upright. Then turning on to the finishing circuits a car was parked in the middle of the road, cutting the area for riders to go through in half. Finally on the circuits, the "dangerous" riding began, with laps up and down Mt. Penn and through downtown on slick roads as rain poured down on us.
The first two circuits were relatively uneventful, the group rode a solid tempo up the climbs but nothing crazy and guys continued to pop. The descents were indeed sketchy and at least 2 people around me crashed but I stayed out of the fray. On lap 3 the Jamis car came up and told their rider to pin it as hard as they could up the climb and the racing was on. We went over the top with a group of 5-6 but by the time lap 4 started we were all back together again. Again we smashed up the climb, this time about 10 making it over, with two bridging across to the breakaway, but like the previous lap we had 20-30 going in to the final climb. The initial efforts to try and be in a bridge group cost and 4 guys got away the last time up the climb and I went over the top with a group of 8-10 fighting for 11th position. Some risky attacks on the descents but to no avail and I came through the finish in 15th. Not a bad day, I know I raced to do better and those efforts cost me a bit as others rode up the hill a little easier but you take those risks for a chance to sneak in to the top 10 or so.
It was definitely a fun race in epic conditions and I felt like I could hang with that level of field, which feels better than the hanging on for dear life that occurred last year. Hopefully next year is filled with plenty of similar level races.
Big shoutout to my buddies from Pennsylvania for coming up and giving me a huge laugh on lap 2. Coming up the climb I could hear them shouting and these huge fat heads of my own face. They cheered, ran next to me, and kept me motivated and having fun even when I was cracking up the climb. It's great to have good friends and better to have ones that are up for having this much fun. Big props to Seth and Mike for making the Reading 120 even more memorable!!
Big shoutout to my buddies from Pennsylvania for coming up and giving me a huge laugh on lap 2. Coming up the climb I could hear them shouting and these huge fat heads of my own face. They cheered, ran next to me, and kept me motivated and having fun even when I was cracking up the climb. It's great to have good friends and better to have ones that are up for having this much fun. Big props to Seth and Mike for making the Reading 120 even more memorable!!
Doylestown Crit
44 laps and 2 hours and 15 minutes of tight turns and fast straights at the Doylestown crit after the previous days 120 mile slog seemed downright cruel. In the end it was fairly uneventful. Tailgun the first hour as legs wake up from the previous day's efforts, move toward the front, avoid couple of crashes, enjoy the dry conditions, get off the front a couple times in last ten laps, almost have eyes pop out of sockets following a Marcotte move, drop in behind lead out trains last 2 laps, finish 12th to finish out a decent weekend of racing. Like I said "simple" and uneventful, but still a long day in the saddle. Just happy to be home, even if it took another 6.5 hours of driving to get there. Now it's a little bit of rest and a reacquaintance with my mountain bike before the NUE finale at Fool's Gold 100 in northern Georgia. What could possible go wrong?!?
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow
Keep those pedals spinning,
BSlow