Chappell Hill Bank Classic (cat 4)
(9/11/2005)
"A War of Attrition"
Mike Rossi
Big group. Roll out nice and smooth, move to near the front to keep an eye on things. The surges start as soon as the road turns up. Several college guys with good acceleration driving the pace. Lots of attacks and counter attacks. Hit the feed zone hill at the end of the first loop and this tall, lanky kid in an A&M uni surges hard. Three or four give chase, including our man Felix and a break forms. Seems a bit early to me, but they start motoring and a gap opens up.
I think to myself, "man, I should be in that break" but it's too late. So now I get a lesson in team tactics -- support role. GCCA moves to the front of the pack and starts to ride tempo. A chase group of three manages to get away but after that we've got a rhythm going and no one else is going anywhere. Ride hard for two hours in the wind and hills. Turn for home and who do we see but Felix coming back. Oh cr@p! But nice job, nevertheless. You saw the winning break and gave it your best shot.
At this point, the main group is down to about 10 or 12. I'm out of water and so are several other guys. People start sharing water bottles back and forth. I look around, and everyone is covered in salt. We turn left onto the road back to Chappell Hill and it's a full-on head wind for seven miles. Carnage all over the road as we start picking our way through the remnants of the cat 5 and women's race. At every hill I can feel my legs going to the edge of cramping. I remember thinking, "please, no accelerations, please..." I think everyone was feeling the same thing because we just ground our way home at a steady tempo.
We get to the last hill and two guys surge forward. I try to give chase but the legs say no. Down shift, down shift, spin, spin. Just get up the hill and finish this thing. Crossed the line and just about fell off the bike. I have no idea where I ended up. Without a doubt, one of the hardest races I've done.
Congratulations to all who raced. It was definitely a war of attrition.
Results
P/1/2
6 Aaron Sinclair Gulf Coast Cycling Association
Cat 3
6 Bradley Gunter Gulf Coast Cycling Association
10 Jimmy Clarke Gulf Coast Cycling Association
20 Kenneth Dykema Gulf Coast Cycling Association
Cat 4
8 Michael Rossi Team Bikesport
10 Jose Caballero Gulf Coast Cycling Association
13 J Andrews Gulf Coast Cycling Association
15 Anthony Kaim Gulf Coast Cycling Association
16 Ryan Dionne Gulf Coast Cycling Association
18 Robert Sisk Team Bikesport
Cat 5
4 Philip Trinder Gulf Coast Cycling Association
9 Andy Andreasen Team Bikesport
11 Luis Gonzalez Team Bikesport
Women Cat 4
7 Joyce Baysinger Gulf Coast Cycling
Masters 55+
8 Tommy O'Neal Gulf Coast Cycling Association