Salvage Operation

Spring classics season closed out yesterday, with Sunapee 2009 going into the books as another Hilljunkie win in Master 45+. Pretty impressive. As usual, the race hosted by the Sunapee S&W Sports/Continental Paving club was run with professionalism. These guys deserve a lot of credit for pulling off one of the best events in New England year after year. The podium finishers got engraved pint glasses this edition, as seen on Dougie's blog. A keepsake like that is much nicer than the typical medal and was a very classy touch. Congratulations to race director Chris Naimee and the entire Sunapee crew for promoting another great event. The true measure of a cycling club is the quality of the events they promote for the benefit of the racing community as a whole, and Sunapee once again proved they are first category.

The way my season has been going, I did not know what to expect at this race. Back in March, with a nice winter base focused entirely on bike racing already behind me, I was guardedly optimistic about the big road races. Early review of the calendar had me focusing on Monson and Jiminy Peak in April, and then trying to hold form for a few weeks until Sunapee, where I have perhaps my longest history of respectable finishes. Going to the training race at Coxsackie revealed that I shouldn't have forsaken high intensity so much in the early weeks. That was a wake up call. Battenkill was never a focus, but I'd hoped to do better than I ultimately did, nonetheless my failure there did not come as a surprise after the prior week's warning shot. Note to self for next year: a large percentage of the 40+ riders who top 20'd Battenkill had raced all three weeks at Coxsackie. There's no better way to prepare for a hard 100k race than by doing hard 100k training races.

Then Monson was canceled, so I raced Turtle Pond instead, but in the tough 35+ field on what turned out to be a damn hot day. TP is another event that has historically been OK for me, but this year I was a dud by the end. On to Jiminy, where my form was at its peak as planned, but where I misread the race and blew a chance for a good finish. The next day at Blue Hills my form was confirmed, but also wasted, in a 50k solo break that led nowhere except a crampy mid-pack sprint for 30th. Next up Sterling; we know how that ended, on my butt with a fistful of ibuprophen. All my base training and focus had not yielded anything in the way of results.

Sunapee did not draw quite the field that Jiminy Peak did. Geographically Sunapee does not work for a lot of teams, so in the 45+ we were missing Arc-en-Ciel, Keltic, and of course the host team, who forego their own event to work it and ensure its quality. Corner Cycle's riders all did the 35+ so that they could stay together, which meant another powerful squad was absent. Still though, Dougie was there with his IBC team, along with CCB tough guys and full squads for OA/Cyclemania and Gearworks. For BOB we had five of us, with the Cronoman, Timmy, Big John, and Jeff F in addition to myself. The fields were limited to 75 this year, I guess due to some construction-related narrow course concerns. It was nice of them to think of our safety over income.

As has been the case for the past few years, the 45+ only does two laps of the 23 mile parcours. Back in the day all categories did three laps here, and that made for quite a different race. Now with the short format, things get aggressive early. Our field started briskly but stayed together. I was unsure of myself but did OK on the initial climbs out on route 11. It's amazing how much fitness can alter your perception of a course. When I returned here back in 2004 or 2005 after a long layoff, I'd remembered this course as fairly easy, with a few rollers. Being overweight and not in top form, the rollers felt like mountains! I DNF'd my first time back. The past few years were not so bad, but still I was remembering "hills" that hadn't made much impression on me back in the 80s and 90s. Well, I must have good form, because this year the course did not seem so alpine. Unfortunately, I did not have great position when we hit the town line hill on 103A. That one is pretty real, and Dougie, Tyler Munroe (CCB), Rick Sorensen (Battenkill-United), Stuart Abramson (OA-Cyclemania) and Keith Button (Noreast-INTERNET!) separated themselves from the bunch. At the crest, I immediately started pulling into the downhill. My agenda was two-pronged: 1) try to keep them close so the field stayed interested, and 2) see who blocked in order to figure out who was up there. Jim Nash (CCB) immediately covered my wheel, so I knew Tyler was in the move. Other than that I was not sure, but the word soon got out that one was Ambramson. We actually thought there were more than five, as at this point there were already stragglers from earlier fields littering the road and confusing the situation.

After the downhill is where I had my "they took the hill out" moment. Before I knew it I'd pulled to the right hand bend which marks the approach to the final crest on 103A. Our field was stretched out and fragmented a bit, but I was OK, and sure enough there were others interested in chasing. Out on 103 I guess Keith came back to us. With long sightlines on the straight road, I looked ahead on the big rollers before the rotary and timed the break at only 22 seconds up. They may have pulled out some more time, but then we started flying down the second half of 103. I'm not positive who was driving it, but I know Adam Sternfeld (MillworkOne) was one of them. Things were not looking good for the break at that point. We had an official drive up alongside screaming at us about yellow line violations, very emotional and unprofessional. Why can't they just take the numbers and relegate the offenders? Anyhow, we then turned back into the wind on 111 and the field just deflated. I thought about moving up and driving the pace, but with the big rollers leading out of town looming, I opted to conserve energy, and I think many others had the same ideas. On the hill I felt I was in better shape than my team mates, so I wanted to stay ready for the finish.

Then we started catching the Cat 4 pack. The big rollers were super easy for me this time, but I took a wait and see attitude for how the group grope passing situation was going to play out. The break got through pretty easily. Our pack, still 50 riders large, not so. We ended up cruising behind the traffic for a mile or two. The officials for the 4s should have neutralized them as soon as the break went by, but they did not. Eventually the traffic was stopped by a detail cop and we raced by up the shoulder, regrouping on the last route 11 wall and pouncing up to the Cat 4 pack on the narrow 103A. At this point their lead car finally parked them and we had a vehicle guard the oncoming lane and we all raced by without an issue. The break was out of sight though, or at least we could not see the lead car. On the town line climb I moved up to the front. I guess Big John headed up and told the Cronoman I was going to attack on the next rise. Funny thing is, I never said a word to John. He and I have been racing both against each other (when we were on different teams) and together on BOB for so long that he knows me like a book. And he's a tailgunner who knows how to read a race. Well of course he was right, and when we got to the right hand bend I went, in the saddle, hoping that with some teams already blocking the field would just let me escape. I got a good gap, but did not bury myself.

Up ahead there was a small group, but if they had a pace car I did not see it. From reading Dougie's blog, I now know this was our break, but with a bunch of 35+ stragglers tacked on to them. Well, maybe the pace car was visible, because Gearworks lit up the chase over the crest, reeling me back in with Jennings on the point. As soon as they got close enough to see it just a bunch of 35's, Frank sat up and the Cronoman countered. I guess what had happened (again from Doug's account) was that the officials had ordered the 35's separate themselves, and the break was not far ahead. The Cronoman was absorbed by the field as we scooted around the 35s in the construction zone. As soon as we started the first roller on 103, Mark Suprenant (Team Type 1) attacked, and Timmy covered. They moved away smartly and it looked pretty good, so I went straight to the front to patrol for chasers. I'd already recovered from my attack, surprising myself. Karl Hambrecht (CCB) led the chase with me covering his wheel, so I guess he did not see the break ahead either, as his team mate Tyler was in there. Timmy got ridden off by Mark, and we got swarmed going into the rotary. I was about twenty back now. Mark got caught on the little wall at the base of the access road, which is less than 1k to go. Moving up on the left, I had plenty of clear road and I just launched. This is one finish I know well, and once again nobody came with me. I was clear and got back across the road for the final right hand bend and bump to the line. Checking the rear view, it was going to be close, and as I clicked up a gear and stood for the final dance to the banner, I heard someone yell "Go Tyler!" As it turned out, I was on the heels of the break, but too little too late. I stayed clear of the field though, and in fact the break numbered only four, so I got 5th. I must say I haven't been so happy with a mediocre result in a long time. It was a paying spot, but more importantly a top five salvaged my spring season. I knew I had good form and preparation and coming up empty week after week had been pretty discouraging. Again thanks to my team for their help and to the Sunapee club for putting on the event, and thanks for reading.