Today was the Tour de Strongland road race. I waffled a bit about what race to enter–it’s a citizen’s race, not sanctioned by the USAC, so the categories were not the typical category 4/5, 1/2/3. After speaking with a few people, I decided that the 20 mile, intermediate road race, would be the best fit. I’m sure I could have done the expert race, but given who was likely to show up, I would get shelled pretty quickly. Perfect day for a race–temps just around 70, partly sunny. It was, however, quite breezy. The course is hillier than most Western Pennsylvanian road races, with several short climbs, and at least one long, gentle rise. My hope going in was to stick with the group through the first climb and see how things shook out.

Learning my mistake in the Fort Cherry race (well, the first mistake), I was sure to be at the front of the start grid. I saw a few other faces from the C races at the Oval, so I felt like my race choice was spot on. The start was neutral, but there was some confusion as to when the neutral section was over. We lollygagged for a bit once on the road, and once the pace car put some distance on us, we decided the race was on. The front of the group sorted itself out quickly, and worked fairly well. A fair number of people seemed to be willing to work at the front, and it was pretty rare when you pulled off that the group would just follow you. After a tight right hand turn, we approached the first climb.

Hanging on wasn’t an issue, and about a quarter of the way up, I moved to the front. I was working fairly hard, but was willing to write this off since it was the first climb. Once at the top, I peeled off and we hit a section of rollers. I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but apparently our pace up the climb shelled most of the group, leaving us with a group of eleven. This is how it would stay for the most of the race. Quickly, we were on the descent on Markle Road. This road is steep and windy, and it split the group a bit. Somehow, I managed to stay near the front. Quickly, we turned on Pine Road, and entered the longest bit of flat riding. The pace was still reasonably high, but not high enough to shell anyone. I spent my time at the front, but given the direction of the wind, staying in the group only offered a bit of protection.

Once off Pine and on Seventh Street Road, we hit the long climb. It wasn’t at all steep, just long. I sat near the back for a bit, and watched two riders take off. I began to move up, and promptly found myself at the front, and gaining on the two. A look back showed I had managed to gap the main group a bit. I kept pushing, and pulled through with the escapees. We continued to push to the top, and through a bit of flat. We turned on Manchester Hill Road, and went down, down, down. One rider gapped me a bit, and I couldn’t close it. At all. I was surprised, however, that no one passed me. The rollers on Millgantown Road brought the whole group back together, and for the most part, the pace stayed high. One rider pulled next to me and suggested I go with him on the big climb on SR56. I nodded, and waited.

Once on SR56, I was near the back of the group, and couldn’t really react when he took off. Oops. I sat in for a bit, and Mike from the Oval took off to catch him. I sat in a bit longer, then closed the gap to Mike, bringing most of the group with me. I sat in for a bit, then moved on to catch the escapee, unfortunately bringing everyone with me. One thing I realized on 56–I would need a HUGE gap to manage to keep away, because despite putting some distance between myself and the group on the climbs, they were quickly closing the gaps on the descents. On another rise, I moved to the front and tried to pin it a bit, and again got a bit of distance. A few riders bridged, and I stood up and gapped them again. We hit the top and, hey imagine that, I was passed. I did notice, however, that I manage to shatter the group a bit, and we were whittled down to maybe 8 riders. Once on the flats, the pass stayed high, and I was content to sit in, knowing there was one more climb before the finish.

Mike pulled through to start the climb, and popped a bit, so I moved up and pushed the pace. There was a surge from the back, though, and three riders passed me near the top. I caught and wheel and stayed with them, and the pace went really high as we approached the finish, a sharp left hander to the line. At this point, I had written off my chances for a win (way to think positively!), but wanted to stay in the top five. The pace slowed a bit just before the corner, and in retrospect, given the short straight to the finish, I should have tried to go here. I went into the corner in sixth, and managed to pass two riders for fourth. Woo.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better race. The group worked well together, I did a fair amount of work on the climbs, and finished in the top five. The course was very nice, and the race was well run. No complaints at all.

Sebastien took second place in the 4 and 5 year old race. Oren was a DNS in his race due to diaper-related issues.

Posted on 7 September 2008