Riding on the rivet for the first 60k... ouch. Coxsackie - Or should I say Ghent-Coxsackie. Fuck. Training race? This has to qualify as an American kermesse. 45 degrees, 20 mph crosswinds. Overcast. Not freezing, but certainly not warm. About 65 starters. 1/2/3. Emphasis on the 1/2 I think. There are some masters, like Aspholm, Stotz, Ruiz, and all the other Keltic guys. Lots of French being spoken in the group by the Quebec guys. Neutral parade in honor of David Brinkerhoff, the state trooper killed in the line of duty for whom the race is named. Just long enough to get cold. Then the whole field pulls over to take a piss. After that, BANG! Nine laps of a 7 mile circuit. Mostly flat, but a few good rollers, some twisty stuff, some rough pavement, lots of fields and crosswinds. One hill that is long enough to hurt, especially on the long false flat at the top, where it was single file in the 53x15 for the first four laps. In the crosswinds I was on the last centimeter of the edge of the road, pure gutter riding. No shelter. I got there last minute (surprise!) and was not warmed up, and also sore from efforts in the Blue Hills on Friday. I was within a thread of getting popped on the first lap, and just about every lap until the real motors (whoever they were; I know A-Bomb was up there) broke the chain and pulled away for good. I was setting little goals -- just make it to 3 laps, ok 4 laps, etc. Never expected to finish. LVG and one other woman were in there too, pretty impressive. I swear at first it seemed to me like I was the only one in trouble but then people started getting dropped and eventually there were some just sitting up and pulling out at the start/finish. It was still aggressive for a few laps when the breaks were in sight, but eventually the white flag went up and the pace dropped drastically for the final three laps. I don't think I'd have made it if it hadn't. As it was I was cramping on the last time up the hill. I was just following the sprint, good thing, as I had no idea that we were turning off onto a side road for the finale. I did not talk to any other riders after but I sure as hell hope someone else besides me thought the first few laps were heinous. I think we covered 28 miles in 1:05 or something like that, in the wind. It was one of those "who the hell is driving this bus?" races. I know it slowed down quite a bit and it was 1:40 at the end of six laps, 42 miles in. I think the finish time was 2:35 or something, plus about 20 minutes for the neutral parade.
Pretty psyched that I decided to come out for this. The weather and day at Ninigret sounds like it sucked. Up in Battenkill now. There was a big meeting at the market/coffee shop downtown with Dieter, the tech director, and all the moto volunteers for the Sunday Pro race. It's supposed to be cold and windy tomorrow, but I'll put on the woolies and ride the new course to see what it's like. Then come back here next Saturday and hope for the best... Thanks for reading.
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