You may say this write up is a bit late, but I just see it as taking some time to reflect.
Last year a few of us on the team went up to the race in Kutztown and went 3 for 3 in winning our respective races. Jack took the B race handily, I rode a clean, hard race for a win in the Master's, and Gerald had an exciting go of it with Gunnar and won the Elite race.
This year we went up with a few more teammates, and for Saturday, still held podium placings for every race the team entered. Our most recent team member, Michael Miller took the win in the B race after a brave solo move on the last lap. Jack Drummond took a tough race to task to finish third in the Master's. Finally our Gerald rode with a stellar, strong group and finished 3rd in the elite race, just getting pipped at the line by Mike DiBie in the race for 2nd.
Now I heard a little bit of kvetching about the course through the day. I can't say I love the course, but it is a pretty fun maze to race through. It was the kind of course that when you pre-ride, it doesn't feel great, but then while racing, you can develop a good rhythm, with exception of the spiral. I dislike a spiral. But a race is a race, you gotta play it as it lies, right?
We fielded myself, Brendan, and Gerald for the Elite race. To continue a theme, I again missed my pedal off the line, I made up some room after a horseshoe turn around a pavilion, but lost it all over cooking the next 180 turn to go past the start/finish. I didn't have clear sight of the turn in the scrum and went way, way too wide ending with me in the tape at a complete stop. Now I'm no jerk racer, so I waited for the guys to pass before trying to salvage my race which means I was pretty much at the end of the line.
The course had no singular feature, but its theme was definitely turns. I love some good bike driving, but turns make passing very hard. I caught up to a big group of some familiar racers. Festa, Freyberger, Dag, Troy Kimball, Joe Pigga, and a few more. It pretty much felt like a crit. We were single file and for a while, railing the turns. I had more ambition than to settle into a group that big but making my way through it took a couple of laps. By the time I got off the front of that group, the race in front of me was pretty broken up. With 5 laps to go I got a good flow on and was really letting it out on the turns. It was fun! The rider in front of me was getting closer but I could also see he was riding really smooth. I really had to dig deep to even pull back a couple of seconds. With 2 to go the big group behind me was all but shattered, and a couple of riders decided to have a go of trying to reel in some people. I was so wrapped up in finding places to pull back time on the NJMTB guy in front of me that I made some dumb mistakes. I struck my pedal in a couple turns, pitching the bike sideways and drifted off the good lines.
I lost some time to the guy ahead of me and on the last lap my game changed to just holding my place and staying ahead of the charging duo behind me. I did a bit of time calculations and rode a smooth lap. I did allow them to take back a little time on me, but I wasn't going to get pressured into making a mistake. With a hard effort in the final section of the race I rolled across the line 10th. It felt good to have salvaged something after such a horrible start and it's always awesome to feel like you're full on racing for an hour.
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Pj Freeman Photos Here!
Last year a few of us on the team went up to the race in Kutztown and went 3 for 3 in winning our respective races. Jack took the B race handily, I rode a clean, hard race for a win in the Master's, and Gerald had an exciting go of it with Gunnar and won the Elite race.
This year we went up with a few more teammates, and for Saturday, still held podium placings for every race the team entered. Our most recent team member, Michael Miller took the win in the B race after a brave solo move on the last lap. Jack Drummond took a tough race to task to finish third in the Master's. Finally our Gerald rode with a stellar, strong group and finished 3rd in the elite race, just getting pipped at the line by Mike DiBie in the race for 2nd.
Michael Miller and Anthony So take off in the Men's B race
Gerald Adasavage sprints for 2nd in the Elite Men's race against Belgian phenom Mike De Bie (Philadelphia Cyclocross School)
Now I heard a little bit of kvetching about the course through the day. I can't say I love the course, but it is a pretty fun maze to race through. It was the kind of course that when you pre-ride, it doesn't feel great, but then while racing, you can develop a good rhythm, with exception of the spiral. I dislike a spiral. But a race is a race, you gotta play it as it lies, right?
We fielded myself, Brendan, and Gerald for the Elite race. To continue a theme, I again missed my pedal off the line, I made up some room after a horseshoe turn around a pavilion, but lost it all over cooking the next 180 turn to go past the start/finish. I didn't have clear sight of the turn in the scrum and went way, way too wide ending with me in the tape at a complete stop. Now I'm no jerk racer, so I waited for the guys to pass before trying to salvage my race which means I was pretty much at the end of the line.
The course had no singular feature, but its theme was definitely turns. I love some good bike driving, but turns make passing very hard. I caught up to a big group of some familiar racers. Festa, Freyberger, Dag, Troy Kimball, Joe Pigga, and a few more. It pretty much felt like a crit. We were single file and for a while, railing the turns. I had more ambition than to settle into a group that big but making my way through it took a couple of laps. By the time I got off the front of that group, the race in front of me was pretty broken up. With 5 laps to go I got a good flow on and was really letting it out on the turns. It was fun! The rider in front of me was getting closer but I could also see he was riding really smooth. I really had to dig deep to even pull back a couple of seconds. With 2 to go the big group behind me was all but shattered, and a couple of riders decided to have a go of trying to reel in some people. I was so wrapped up in finding places to pull back time on the NJMTB guy in front of me that I made some dumb mistakes. I struck my pedal in a couple turns, pitching the bike sideways and drifted off the good lines.
I lost some time to the guy ahead of me and on the last lap my game changed to just holding my place and staying ahead of the charging duo behind me. I did a bit of time calculations and rode a smooth lap. I did allow them to take back a little time on me, but I wasn't going to get pressured into making a mistake. With a hard effort in the final section of the race I rolled across the line 10th. It felt good to have salvaged something after such a horrible start and it's always awesome to feel like you're full on racing for an hour.
.jpg)
Railing some turns at Kutztown Cross
Pj Freeman Photos Here!
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