MIDSOUTH MASTER CYCLING CLUB
NOLA LENDING
RACING TEAM
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Jason Miller's Tour de Louisiane Race Report
pictures by Wayne Schnell
Sunday's criterium race start next to Lake Pontchatrain
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The Tour de Louisiane Stage Race is the local stage
race promoted by the New Orleans Bike Club and one of the top events on the
calendar. We have always done pretty well, finishing a rider second each
of the last two years, but never won first in the General Classification (GC).
This year I mentioned a few times to the team that we needed to focus on this
race and win it. We were able to field one of our strongest teams yet as Charlie, Ed, Jaro, Jay, Jerry and Mark
and me all would be racing in the Masters group. Robert was doing
to race with the Category 4 group.
There was about 40 riders in our field but Robert would have close to 60 in his. In our race the Dallas guys with Jorge Merle would be there, as would be Peake, some of the old Jeep team (now Gulf Coast), Dave Patterson and Jorge Perera with NOBC as well as some very strong solo riders in Donald Davis from FL and John McLauchlin from TN. With a strong team we decided we wanted to push the pace in the road race which was now moved to the first event on Saturday morning. Almost all of us could contest for the GC if things worked out so we figured if we rode aggressively on the front, we could try to force a break or at least weaken the other teams as they chased us down. We wasted little time on the attacks as Jay was off the front before most people got clipped in. Ed was going to bridge to him on one of the hills on Hwy 10 but was shadowed by a few other riders when he attacked and backed off. Jay stayed off the front solo for maybe half a lap or more before the group finally caught him. As soon as they did I shot off the front and opened a decent gap on the field. A while later about five other riders including Eddie Delgoda with Peake and Timmy Carbonneau with Gulf Coast bridged to me and we started working. We were eventually reeled in as we got closer to the end of the first lap and the hot spot sprint bonus. I went with a few other attacks as we got closer to the end of the lap and wasn't in position to get to the front for the bonus. We had planned on Jaro taking the time bonus sprint. Mark gave him a lead out and it looked like Jaro was able to take it pretty easily. The pace picked up after that and Jaro really needed to dig to catch back on. During the second lap we continued attacking off the front. I went pretty hard after a turn and a couple of guys bridged up to me including Ed. As we moved up a hill, his chain jumped off the front chain ring but he was able to shift it back on. He has been having issues with this on an older bike but apparently it followed him on his new Cervelo. Later in the race he would dump it again and this time would loose the pack while he stopped to fix it. Fortunately we still had numbers in the race. Near the start of the third lap Jerry got off the front. There was a group of guys who tried to bridge including Jorge with NOBC. They made it about half way and then kind of got stuck in between Jerry and the pack. One of the Dallas guys then attacked followed by John McLauchlin so I jumped on his wheel. We blew by the guys in between and eventually caught up with Jerry. I turned and saw Donald Davis and Mike Corcoran with Peake had also followed the attack and Jorge with NOBC was able to catch on from the middle group as well. We started working very hard. I thought for sure this break was going to stick since all but a few teams and solo riders were here. I think a few guys were pushing the pace too fast for everyone to pull through. I would eventually find myself five riders back with no one coming around the front. I would have to dig at 30mph+ to come around the pack and take a pull on the front. I am not sure how but eventually we got pulled back in before the end of the lap. We continued to move guys off the front throughout the entire race. Charlie, Jay and Mark went off a few more times during this lap but Mark was able to get away near the end with John and Timmy. Jimmy Olsen with Dallas was pretty cooked by this time working to reel us in on previous laps so it just left one of the other Dallas guys and Donald Davis to pull them back in. I think by this time we are all feeling pretty tired. I am getting cramps in both legs that aren't seeming to go away. Donald finally catches Mark's group at the base of a little climb and I attack again. My attacks are starting to loose their sting. A few guys are with me but we don't stay away very long. Within 2-3 miles of the finish Matt Rinard goes off the front and starts to open a pretty big gap. We don't do much to chase him back and I think some of the other teams are starting to get a bit nervous. I am near the front when Jimmy Olsen takes a flyer to try to catch him. Now the chase is on as I move to the front to chase Jimmy. We catch him before we crest the second to the last hill but Matt is still away heading up the last climb as we start the downhill before it. I think we are going to catch him but it will be close. I pick up the pace on the base of the last hill but don't have much left before I die off. Jaro has moved up towards the front and Mark is with him. I pretty much dig to stay in contact with the pack at 200 meter to get group time. I am not real sure of how the finish played out but Mark was able to get first place and Jaro took third. John nipped Jaro at the line and finished in second place. Going into the 3 mile time trial, Jaro would be in first with Mark behind him by 2 seconds with John and Donald in third and forth. The rest of the field was pretty much tied for fifth place as all but about 10 - 15 riders finished with the pack. We enjoyed the pool and some food at Robert's house before heading out to the time trial which was now on our normal Hwy 1088 route. My legs still feel pretty flat from the road race. I start out pretty fast as I planned but before long I start to lose speed. I was disappointed with my time of 6:34 which put me 16th overall in GC but satisfied that I rode it as hard as I could. Ed has a great time of 6:14 which was good enough for 3rd place. Unfortunately he lost too much time in the road race to be a factor in the overall GC. Mark also had a strong ride at 6:16 and would be second going into Sunday's crit 12 seconds behind John McLauchlin who's 6:00 was first in the TT. Jaro and Jerry also had decent times in the 6:20's and were still in the top ten of the GC.
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Our team plans for Sunday's criterium race on the New Orleans
lakefront are to get Mark the hot spot time bonus as well as a top finish all
while preventing John from getting any time bonuses. This is the only
chance we have to move Mark into first place in the GC. Donald Davis heard
me talking to one of my friends about the plan and said that was going to be
tough. He was right but we were still going to try. We would look to
stay on the front and push the pace to discourage attacks. For the hot
spot and finish we would plan to do a leadout train with Jay starting things off
then Jerry and then me. We would deliver Jaro to maybe 500 meter where he
would provide the final boost to Mark. The race starts out fast as Jay again is pushing the pace on the front. After a lap or two I make my way up to the front with Jerry and Jaro and we take turns keeping the pace high. I can see that already some riders are start to drop off the pace. There aren't a lot of attacks as we keep the pace fairly high. They ring the bell for the hot spot sprint about midway through the race. We aren't setup in order as we go into the first turn to start the lap. There is a rider between Jay and me and I don't see Jerry. Jay cranks up the pace and the guy in front of me can't keep the pace and opens a gap. I move around him and start to close the gap on Jay with I think Mark on my wheel. I don't catch Jay until we are over the levee, around the U-turn and heading back up the levee. I stand up as I start the little climb and open up the pace. I lead the group back on Lakeshore Drive before I die and the pack flies by me. I jump on Jay's wheel as he goes by and dig to hold on. I don't see any details but Mark won the hot spot sprint and Jorge Merle got the second bonus. We got one bonus now we need the finish. |
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The pack is split following the hot spot sprint and they
keep the pace high. There is a desperate chase going on behind us as some
riders are fighting to catch back up while others are doing all they can to hold
on. By this time the wind has shifted from a headwind at the finish to a
cross wind and most of us are getting stuck in the gutter with little draft.
There are 15 rider in the front group with six of them from our team including
Charlie, Jaro, Jay, Jerry, Mark and me - pretty impressive.
I think about this time in the race I hear someone behind us go down in the U-turn. It was VJ with Peake and unfortunately he was hurt pretty bad breaking his femur. Jerry drifts off the front with about 15 minutes left in the 50 minute race and no body moves real fast to chase him. He continues to drift off the front building up his gap. I take an occasional pull on the front but by now I am pretty tapped and spend more time at the back of the lead pack. I see Jimmy Olsen jump to chase after Jerry but I think we catch him after a few laps. I sit in a few laps and figure I am feeling good enough to
move to the front to keep the pace high enough to discourage any attacks as we
close in the on the finish. I take a pull on the front into the cross wind
and when I move off the front, Jay takes off to win a preme with John on his wheel and the rest
of the pack in hot pursuit. I have to use about everything I have left to
catch on the back. I will remain on the back of the pack for the remaining
three laps. |
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It is clear by this time that Jerry will stay away for the
win. Jerry gained quite a bit of time riding solo plus picked up a time
bonus of 10 seconds for first. It will take some sorting out to see how
far he moved up in the GC. There is still time bonuses for 2nd and 3rd
place for Mark to try to move up. Jay and Jaro are up near the
front of the group as the officials ring the bell marking the final lap. Me are Charlie are
towards the back with a few other guys just holding on. As we turn on the
Lakeshore Drive for the long run to the finish, I see Jaro cranking up the pace.
From my view at the back it looks like Mark takes the bunch sprint with either
John or Jorge behind him in third. The final GC will be very close.
It isn't until after the race that Mark tells me that Jimmy Olsen was still just
off the front of the pack and finished in second with Mark taking third. |
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After time bonuses and gaps are figured out by Randy Legeai,
Mark ends up in 2nd place a single second behind John. Jerry moved all the
way up to 3rd place in the GC, 8 seconds off the lead. Jaro finished 7th
overall. Jay, me and Charlie all move up in the GC after the crit as
several riders in front of us missed the front split and lost close to two
minutes. Jay finishes 10th, I get 11th and Charlie gets 12th. Robert
finished about mid-pack in the Cat 4 race as his race also broke up. Although we didn't get on the top step of the podium as I had hoped, we had one of our stronger team efforts to date. We have enjoyed a lot of success in the three short years we have been racing together. I guess we still need something to shoot at. the 2010 TdL GC will not doubt be one of the targets. |
