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MOB Race Report: April 2010

"The start of the season is here and Cerland and Moorsville are two of the Spring Classic campaigns. These are two good race courses with a rolling sections and hill top finishes."

Mario Camacho
Team Director

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Ceraland and Moorsville

4.17.10 - 4.18.10

Ceraland: 40+
From Mario Camacho

First of all I just want to say how thankful I am to Dan and Joanne for all of their efforts and time given to the cycling community for so many years. Joanne was a special lady and will be deeply missed. As part of this race to remember her their son lead the first lap. I was proud to be part of this moment. After the first lap the race started and the pace began quickly. The first 15 minutes saw surges but Court, John and I stayed up front and out of trouble. The wind started picking up and after the hill became the place to see attacks go off the front. Gaps would open but the race was not hard enough yet to see anything stick. Court attacked 45 minutes into the race and opened up a good gap. John who was always watchfull and present upfront made sure to guard Court's break. After jumping on three different attacks John was disrupting any pacelines from pulling Court back. John did a great job up front. After two laps in a solo break Court was looking good then I saw Gary Palmer go to the front and attack. I hopped onto his wheel to guard Court's break like john did. After Gary was in front in looked back for help and saw me. I was getting ready to move up front and steady the pace and Gary took another dig. He looked back and saw me again and kept on going. After 3 laps in front Court was back in the field. Curtis Tolsen was clearly a marked man because he always shows great form. This was one of the wheels we wanted to be on knowing this race was coming down to a sprint finish. With two laps to go we had all three of us in great position, right upfront and on Curtis's wheel. One lap to go Scott Moon was driving the pace with Curtis and Court, Me and John right behind. A slight gap opened in the sweeping turn 2 and Court scrambled back to Tolsen's wheel and I fought hard to get back to my spot. Falcon had to maneuver around the far left side and came back to Court's wheel. So heading into the sprint on the rolling downhill before the uphill we're at 36 mph. CFW, Tolsen, Court, Falcon & Mario just behind on the far right. The surge was coming from the left with Dean Pederson (Zipp) and a couple CFW's guys. So Curtis launched on the far right and Court was directly on his wheel when the lead-out man decided he was done and drifted back right, cutting off Court's line which forced Court to go left around him to surge to 7th; 5th in the 40+ field. Meanwhile, just before Tolson launched Falcon was set to fly when two riders who had surged did not hold their line and literally banged into John. I was caught in the middle and followed the sprint. I ended up 15th overall and 13th in the 40+. This was my first time racing in this category and I enjoyed it very much. Plus, with three guys in the field I believe we road a strong smart race. I'm looking forward to doing that again soon.

Ceraland: Citizens
From Kenny Brown

Let me start off by saying how proud I am of Aaron (Jr. rider and Kenny's son) having the courage and the passion to compete and not give up. He absolutely gave his all and most of all had fun. It was a great experience for the both of us to race for our first time together. We are looking forward to more races.

I think I made every rookie mistake starting with my preparation. I got 4 hours of sleep. I think my nerves were firing at full throttle. I didn't warm up or hydrate myself properly. Time management was totally lacking. Aaron and I competed in the Citizen's category right after the great performance by the MOB's 40+and 50+ group. The womens group started 1 min before our start. At the start start some Nebo Ridge guy takes off like he was at the veledrome. We pulled him in after lap 1 on the first straight away. The first 15 min felt like a leasure ride averaging around 20mph with surges ranging from 27 - 30 mph. Although, There were guys bumping and scrambling with alot of talk early. It seemed like half of the mens group were Nebo Ridge guys and the rest misc. riders. The Nebo guys were really working together and obviously had a game plan. The womens consisted of mostly Marion college riders.

Roughly 20min into the race we caught up with the womens group on the first straight away. Up until this point Aaron was in the top 10 and I was in the top 5. As we approached the womens group the first two riders surged around the womens group. Then things got hectic, the field widend and I got caught in the middle of the womens pack. I weaved my way in and out to get back into the top 5. 2 laps after that, some dude with an IU jersey took off and I followed like a dummie. We were on the back stretch and I blew a piston. I started to feel dehydrated and weak at this point. The rest of the field caught up with us and the next thing you know he and I got dropped. I kept my rythm and lost him. I tried to gain on the pack but the juice wasn't there. With 10min to go, the group came around and I sucked wheel. The pace was around 23mph at this point. With one lap to go I positioned myself in the top 5 to get a good feel of how the sprint to the finish was like. I took off ahead of the field on the back straight away way too early. When I hit the final stretch I blew another piston. Kaput!

It was a humbling experience and I learned a lot. Now its time to get in the shop for some repairs.

Ceraland: Cat 3's
From Mario Camacho

In this race we had Toby, Me and Scott Gramke together at the start line. Big field with a huge Sustainable Cycling team present for their home town race. Toby was very attentive up front and I was trying to loosen my legs up after doing the 40+ race a little earlier. Scott road very well staying in the pack and keeping pace especially in Junior gears. The race saw multiple attacks all day but a strong wind helped keep things at bay. After 55 minutes of racing Toby said that his legs cramped up on him and he could not go up the hill. This was to bad because he was racing very well. This changed our plans because I had intended to try and lead Toby out. With three laps to go I started to move up to the front. Two guys had attacked and they were off the front. The field was chasing but could not bring them back. Sustainable had a rider in the break and won the race. Coming into the final sweep I was farther back then I wanted to be, around 13th position. We were making the sweep into the hill and the rider on my right I believe started to sprint out of the saddle and swayed to the left. He bumped my handlebars and I was shacking trying to stay up. I thought I was a goner but was able to stay up. I ended up loosing all momentum and riders easily came around me. I was ok, but the rider who had bumped me crashed pretty bad. Hope he is all right. Scott road in with me after a great performance and I believe this was his first Cat 3's race. Look for this Junior rider as he continues to get stronger. Great job buddy!

Moorsville: Cat 3's
From Toby Holsman

Not as fast overall due to the climb and a smaller field, but still lots of action off the front. I countered a big move about 30 minutes in and spent 12 lonely minutes off the front hoping someone could bridge cleanly to help me out, knowing I didn't have the horsepower to stay away solo. Eventually semipro triathlete Ryan Shanahan dragged the whole field up and my goose was cooked. When the race winning move went at the start of the bell lap I couldn't bridge; everyone just lined up behind me. I got swamped on the downhill, passed a bunch of people on the climb and wound up 12th.

Great job Toby!!!

Thank you for reading this weekends racing reports.

Take Care
Mario Camacho

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