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Fitchburg Longsjo Stage 1 |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Jerry Hughes
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Thursday, 28 June 2007 |
Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race (Cat 4)
Thursday, June 28th, 2007
Stage 1 TT (10KM)
Fitchburg, MA
 | | Uphill TT Machine - 2007 Salsa Campeon |
Day 1 – The individual TT – All uphill – on roads better suited for a dual suspension mountain bike……sweet. Bring it.
With the course being basically entirely uphill, I decided to race it on my road bike. I would like to give special thanks to my friend Dr. Neil Feldman of Central Massachusetts Podiatry for loaning me his pair of Blackwell Research 100s. Thanks Neil!
My start time was 8:56:30, so I arrived at 7:45 to give me plenty of time to get warmed up. The weather was perfect – cloudy and 75 – just enough humidity to make it sticky. I felt relaxed and fresh and after a good warmup, I got kited up, slapped the TT helmet on and spun to the line. I watched the first 5-10 dudes fly off the down ramp and I was totally psyched! After taking a quick porta potty visit, I retuned to the line only to see a bunch of commotion with medical staff. Apparently some poor-soul fell off the starting ramp, landed on his head, and was UNCONSCIOUS – no joke. It was surreal to see riders still starting in the midst of all this chaos. We were now were asked to start directly on the road as the medical crew attended to the rider. As he was leaving on the stretcher I did see him move his hands/toes so that is a great sign. We can only hope for him to have a full recovery.
A few slots later, it was my time to Go – 8:56:30. The dude directly in front of me didn’t show so I had a minute gap to the rider in front of me. I had done some pre-race research and I had some speedy fellas behind me so I looked forward to the challenge.
30 Seconds to go…..10 to go…5…4…3…2…1….and I was off! I knew I had to start semi-smart as with a course as hilly as this starting too fast could sap one’s legs very quickly. At mile 1, I felt good and increased my pace a bit. Based on my average pace, I knew that hitting 19-20 on this course would be a great goal. At mile 4, I caught the guy that started a minute up on me and that felt good. What didn’t feel so good was to have the 2 riders behind me also catch me at this point. Distances between us stayed relatively the same for the last 2 miles. I crossed the line and looked down – 18.9 average – doesn’t sound too quick for a TT as I am used to seeing mid 20s - but I’ll take it.
The official results have me placing 55th with a time of 20:45.2.
Stage 1 - check - Done and Done ~ 3 to go. Tomorrow is the Circuit Race, the start of the “real” racing. My goal is to stay out of trouble and finish with the field so the legs are fresh for Saturday’s climbing. Stay tuned…..
Jerry |
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; "Uphill TT Machine - 2007 Salsa Campeon")
