Me, Duano, and JWR4. Not sure where Timmy was post-race.
This was just another race at Ninigret, but since you asked for a race report, you get one. If you want a more exciting story, check out Jonny Bold's report on the 35+ race, the last few laps of which were about as thrilling to watch as a small-field old guy's race can get. I only raced the 45+ category at this event, promoted by Mystic Velo. My teammates Timmy, Duano, and JWR4 were also present in the field of 39 starters, a bit on the small side but typical for Ninigret. There were a lot of good riders in the group though, and not much dead wood.
We were supposed to do 22 laps or something, but I suspect the lap cards got messed up at some point and we did one less than whatever was scheduled. According to the time/distance on the bikereg results we averaged almost 46 kph (28+ mph), and I honestly don't think the race was nearly that fast. It seemed to me that we went from 3 to go to 1 to go but nobody else said anything so I'm not sure. Anyhow, the race consisted of typical Ninigret aggression for the first half. The wind was blowing off the water, so right crosswind/headwind on the backside, though not nearly as hard as it sometimes is. Timmy, Duano, and I took turns initiating and covering moves but nothing got too far. Around ten laps in Timmy was covering a decent looking move when Todd Buckley (Arc-en-Ciel) gave chase, with me on his wheel. Going by the start/finish, they rang the bell for a $10 prime. Todd pulled me up past Timmy's grouppo down at the west end of the course, and I pulled through hard on the backstretch. Somewhere over there, Sammy Morse (Corner Cycle), Mike Norton (Cyclonauts), and Gary Dalton (Cox Cable) made contact with us. Sammy sprinted for the prime and took it.
The next few laps it seemed like everyone was missing pulls except for me, but we still managed to draw a nice gap on the field. Sammy was just recovering from the prime sprint, and I guess Todd was trying to take Mike off the back to get rid of him, knowing that Mike would easily outsprint the rest of us if we let him hang around. Gary was just hanging on the best he could, but he did rotate through on all his turns. I thought he looked fine so I was a bit worried about him too. I'm friends with the other three, but I didn't know much about Gary or his abilities.
Within a lap or two we had a steady rotation going and a big gap. Then Robin told me from the infield that Duano was coming across in a group that was only 10 seconds back, with the field at 28 seconds. A glance back confirmed this, so I stopped working. I figured one more lap and I'd situp and go back to get him, because I was having a fairly easy time in the break. We could see the field on the front stretch going by the pit, so we were way up. However, the next lap the gap to the chase was announced as 20 seconds! I thought they'd blown, but it turns out that Mike Pavlov (CCB) who was the motor in the chase, had crashed himself out. I did not know this, but I started working again. Somewhere along the line Sammy took another prime. Norton tried to negotiate a deal for a split but I guess he was rejected. I stayed out of it because I was trying to figure out a way to win this thing without Duano.
See, Duano really was coming across the gap.
Tactics are much tougher when you're friends with your rivals. I prefer to keep the competition at arm's length, as that makes it easier to do what you have to do. Mike is a former team mate, but Todd and Sammy are more my style of rider and were doing way more work in the break. Like them, I knew I had to ride against Mike, who is a powerful and successful sprinter. I did not know about Gary. I thought about attacking but I knew Todd and Sammy were strong enough to chase me down, and I did NOT want to end up 5th. I didn't have to think about it much though, because before long Todd attacked. I let him go to see what Mike would do. So did Sammy at first. It was very windy so I could not hear the shouting from the infield so well, but I got the impression that Duano was still chasing, so I hung back. Todd got a very big gap, at least ten seconds, before Sammy gave chase with Mike covering him. I went after them and Gary came with me. Then Sammy sat up. Mike did not respond. Neither did I. Sammy was aggravated with me but I wasn't sure if Duano was still coming across, and I did not want to give Gary and Mike a free ride into a group sprint that I would almost surely lose. In hindsight, I probably should have pulled Todd back a bit closer to see if that got Mike to work. But I thought we still had two laps to go. I pulled but not very hard. Then Sammy jumped around me at what turned out to be 1.25 laps to go, and Norton went with him. I let them go and forced Dalton to chase, sitting on his wheel all the way down the front stretch, where they rang the bell for one to go. Todd was still over 10 seconds up, with Sammy and Mike about halfway between him and me/Gary. I thought I'd blown it completely.
I stood up and sprinted around Gary, dropping him. Around the tight west end turns I was carrying so much speed I nearly crashed. Out on the backstretch it looked like Todd might be fading way up ahead, so I poured it on and made contact with Sammy/Mike at the little right hand kink in the course. I sat on them for a brief second to recover, then launched as hard as I could into the second to last turn, drawing the tiniest of gaps. It was drag race time, but somehow I got on top of the gear and did not get punched in the face by any wind gusts. Todd held on by five seconds though, with me crossing in front of Sammy by a few bike lengths. It also turned out that the field closed rapidly at the end, absorbing poor Gary and almost getting Mike, but not quite. Duano took 7th. Thanks for reading.
I barely held off Sammy.
Norton took fourth, narrowly staying ahead of the rapidly closing field.
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