Today Brandi, Will, Ted, and I headed to Somerville for the Hall of Fame
criterium. Will, Brandi, and I opted for the warm up by means of riding.
We missed the rain fortunately, but we hadn't planned on a 45 minute
break between races for the Hills of Somerset finish (Davide Fratini
won, btw) so we spent a little more time hanging out than planned.
Ted opted to drive over because he's probably smarter than us.
Eventually, the 5 race started. The pre-race plan was to work over the
small 5 field and send Will off to do his fast bike riding thing with
Ted and I hanging out in the field for the finish. I did my usual fast
start thing, then something funny happened. The field went fast. It had
to have been the fastest 5 race I've ever done. There were two CRCA guys
and a couple of guys just working over the field on the slight uphill.
Will attacked with 6 or 7 to go with Ted blocking (though I'm not sure
he knew he was blocking), but the CRCA guys were having none of it and
pulled him back in less than half a lap. So, I just hung out near the
front, covering the attacks from the CRCA guys on the uphill every lap
and realizing that I was going to be done by the time the finish rolled
around.
With two to go on the uphill, we heard the terrifying sound of carbon
fiber hitting pavement (why do these crashes always happen uphill?).
Unfortunately, Will got taken out in that crash. He's no worse for the
wear aside from a scraped elbow, but the crash did split the field.
Fortunately, I made the split. With one to go, one of the CRCA guys took
a flyer on the uphill with a few others following him, I just didn't
have the legs and/or commitment to cover it. They got a little gap to go
1-2-3, I sprinted for 5th. I got a medal. Cool.
Post-race I found out Ted suffered a mechanical that knocked him out
before the crash. Ted had an awesome day and looked quite comfortable.
We also got a lot of props for the RU team and talked to two juniors who
are coming here in the fall and represented the team well. Good job all
around.
I'll see you all monday.
-Mark
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