Snake Alley and Hammer Hummer Race Recap

Last week was fairly busy leaving me with very little time to update, so I'm going to try to catch you up, (as if you don't know the results from the races already).

Hammer Hummer:

Brent, "That's Jared" and I all rode over to Davenport this morning. Looked like the weather was going to be sketchy but turned out very nice for the race today. We had the first race of the day at 10:00 on a course that boasts a "T" shaped course with three 180 degree turns...saaawheeet!! My kinda course. Lots of familiar faces there; (Matt Brakeville), Carl Buchanan, (Cannandale), and some new guys who just upgraded from the 5's, (Carson Christen).

First lap started out slow then picked up with a few attacks off the front. The first four attacks I decided to bring back on my own, then I let the next two off the front. However, when I see Bryan Moritz go I know it's time to follow. With 17 laps to go Bryan and Ron Bridal from Team Mack went and I had to chase them down for over 1/2 a lap to catch on. When I caught on I went straight into the rotation with no rest. Man I wasn't feeling that great, plus I kept looking back to see if we were making any headway on the peloton. It didn't seem like we were so I thought I'd pull up and let them catch us. Bryan yelled encouraging words at me to stay with them. I jumped back on my pedals and started to ride in the break for a couple of laps. I just couldn't seem to recovery quick enough to help their get-a-way. I was struggling to stay on. Even with their encouragement I decided to drop off and go back to the peloton, (that later turned out to be a bad move since the break stuck and they finished 1 - 2).

As I retreated back to the peloton I could see that my decision was not smart. The peloton had very little cooperation and only a few guys working. Todd Gillihan, (Team Skin), and Chris Hansen , (Team 14), were working hard as was Jared Osterlou, (A9Y). Brent, Jared and I would stay up front the rest of the race and control the chase group most of the time. Finally getting to the last couple of laps to go and we saw some jersey's we hadn't see all day, (figures?) I had decided early on that I would go into the second to last turn in 2nd place then sprint for the pack win. I was positioned absolutely perfectly going into the final turn I just needed the guy in first to go a little wide on the turn. Sometimes things just go as planned as I was able to out manuever him on the inside and begin my sprint before him. There was an attempt to foil my plans as a guy from Melon City Cycles tried to cut me off inside on the turn. Fortunately he could see that I wasn't going to give him and inch and he had to slam the brakes on at the last second. It was a slight downhill sprint that was pretty long so I had to really push it hard. I was able to win the sprint and take 3rd overall. Not too bad considering I dropped off the break giving up a guaranteed top 3 finish, however, had I stayed on the break I would've conceded first and second to them since they created the break and were working hard to keep it going. Jared followed closely to my wheel and ended up 3rd on the sprint with Brent directly behind him for 4th. There was one very memorable moment of this race, it happened towards the end of the race. As we were hitting some lap traffic I looked up and saw a guy wearing a jersey that was a mid-drift; he was showing off 1/2 his crack with a nasty rug of hair chasing up his racing stripe. I was wondering if he had is belly pierced too? It was pretty funny.

Congrats to Bryan and Ron for making the break stick. Bryan has been riding strong all year and I knew once he got off the front it would stay. Sounds like Bryan clipped a peddle on the last turn before the sprint which allowed Ron to win. Still it was a great effort by both of these guys. Congrats to both of you for an excellent job in the race.

All in all, A9Y ended up with a 3, 5 and 6th in the race. Great job to Brent and JAred for riding so well and helping to control the race. Jared sat on the front of the race for over 10 laps, now thats strong.

Snake Alley:

Lou, DeLena and I drove over to Burlington early in the morning to catch the masters 40+ race for Lou and Cat 4's for me. Right as we got there, the bottom fell out of the sky and massive quantities of rain fell. It was short lived but followed with some wind to help dry the streets up. Lou's race started and by lap 3 Lou was having a lot of shifting problems so he ducked out of the race and went for a ride instead.

Lining up for the Cat 4's race a lot of the big hitters were there and I knew who was going to be in contention today. This is my third attempt at Snake Alley, although it is not a big man's course the race is epic and you have to just love being a part of it. My plan was to just race my race and not worry about anyone else. I just wanted to ride all 12 laps and not get lapped as I did in past years. Starting out on the first lap, a bottle neck formed at the bottom but everyone moved through it pretty quick. I was close to the middle of the pack and making great headway on the climb. By lap three I was leading the race and feeling pretty good. By lap 7 I had fallen back to 5th and was starting to feel the effects of the Snake so I decided to back off the throttle just a little bit and try to save some for the end. I could hear everyone yelling at me going up the Snake which always fuels your legs no matter how much energy you have left. I could especially hear T-Pod's voice coaching me through the Snake. (Tony, although I didn't look up I did hear you and listen to each of your tips. I really appreciated your help as well as the others). By lap 10 I knew I was feeling tired but still had some left to push the last lap hard. On lap 12 I rode as hard as I had the whole race and managed to gain a spot back on the downhill. I ended up finishing 8th overall. Congrats to Andy Leuke, (ICC), who rode an amazing race till luck stiffed him at the end. Bryan Moritz, (DICE), also rode very strong and managed to take the win as Andy flatted on the last lap. Great job to both of you guys. Another shout out to Thad Neil , (Team 14),who is improving steadily every weak. He finished top 5 and put out a great ride. Congrats to Adam Price, (ICC), for earning his Cat 3 upgrade this week. He has been consistently finishing in the top 3 almost all season. I look forward to seeing you in the three's very soon. Nice job fellas.