MIDSOUTH MASTER CYCLING CLUB
NOLA LENDING
RACING TEAM
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Jason Miller's 2009 Meridian / Cuba Challenge Race Report
This year we were a little light on racers for the
I figured things would go crazy from the start but to my surprise the first few laps were very tame. Eventually the attacks started. Three Masters categories, 35+, 45+ and 55+, were all racing together but scored and paid separately. This made things a bit confusing trying to figure which riders needed to be watched. Fortunately for me and Mark, the strongest field was 45+. About half way through the race Donald Davis who had been quite active on the front attacked. I waited for the chase to start but nothing really got going. I figured the AL Masters team would work to pull him back. As it turns out, Michael Hurley on their team was already off the front. I always seem to miss things on this course. Last year I was chasing a rider off the front who had actually been caught a few laps earlier.
Terry Duran put in several hard attacks up the side of the pack and Mark marked him several times. Eventually they would get pulled back in. Other than marking a couple of attacks early, I did very little other than to keep my self near the front. Eventually a few of the 45+ guys got away off the front forming small groups behind Donald and Michael who were gone. As we started the last lap, Mark came by and I jumped on his wheel. He got a little pinched on the second corner by Clint Austin and had to shoulder his way through and I dropped a few spots off his wheel. I made up all but one spot up the next little hill. Randy was on Mark's wheel and when I moved up along side of him to get back on it before the downhill, he let me in. Mark was already cranking things up down the hill and he just kept it going for the entire finishing stretch. I wasn't looking around but I don't think anyone was real close to coming around us as we finished 1-2 in the pack sprint. Another Master 35 rider had apparently gotten off the front during the last few laps and Mark ended up 4th and I ended 5th place.
The road race in Cuba can be a hard one with a lot of rolling hills on chip seal road. Fortunately today the heat would not be a big factor like normal as it was cloudy with temps in the upper 70s / low 80s. The race starts and right away John McLauchlin and Randy are off the front with an AL Master rider. Donald Davis is on the front setting a pace to keep them from getting too far away but they are all 45+ riders and I have no interest in working to catch them.
Around 10 miles into the race, Mark ends up a little off the front after we take a corner. He keeps easing away and eventually he has a decent gap off the front. If he can catch on to the front three 45+ guys they might be able to stay away. There are attacks coming from Michael and Donald and a few others that I am marking but they don't get far. The gap closes and opens a few times on Mark before they finally catch him. Right away Terry Duran attacks and I follow him as does the rest of the pack and that effort finally brings the field back together before the start of the second and final loop.
I stay on the front marking attacks and working in the ones that get gaps. I can start to feel the power leaving my legs on the uphill sections though as some of my earlier effort is showing. As we ride up the longer hill on the loop, I start drifting backwards. Mark gives me a push on the back a few times to keep me from falling too far back.
With about ten miles left in the race, Randy drifts off the front and Greg McCreless with AL Masters jumps to bridge and I move to go with him. Greg is in the 35+ group and we had already been off the front together a few other times in the race. Randy and Greg start working together and I am slow to catch on as again the road is tilting up. I finally catch them on a long decent where I am doing 40mph+. I start working and it seems like we have a decent gap on the field. I am definitely taking the shorter pulls and having to really dig to stay with them on the hills. They are trying to keep me on but finally on a hill about three miles from the finish I start cramping and drop off.
The road flattens back out and I push my pace again. I can see that I am gaining a little back on Randy and Greg and would love to be back in their draft. I can also see that the field has closed some on me but is still a ways back. I am holding a nice pace until there is a little climb with about a mile to the finish that drastically drops my speed. I dig again to pick up speed after the hill. The pack has gained considerably on me and the finish can't get here quick enough. Randy and Greg will stay away. Randy took the win enjoying that good karma for giving me Mark's wheel during the crit leadout. At 500 meters to the finish there is one more hill and for me it will be one too many. I stand and try to push as hard as I can but my legs are dead and cramping. Some where around the 100 meter mark, the pack blows by me.
I finish right off the back of the pack which translated into 9th place in the Master 35+ field. Quite a few other riders had dropped off the pace during the course of the race. Mark was boxed in a little bit during the sprint and couldn't really open things up. He was still able to finish 3rd in our field. We both placed in the money for the omnium which is always nice.
We have certainly had stronger results in the past but I was quite satisfied with the weekend's races. The criterium always seems to give me problems and I think both Mark and I finished higher than in the past. In the road race, we were both very active and made the right moves at the right time. I would much rather make the right move and not have the legs to finish it than to be fresh in the pack with the race going away without one of us in it.