Tokeneke: Revenge of the Weaklings!!

 

I'll never forget the first day in high school. We had to go to the health office to get weighed and have our height measured. At the time there where Joe Wilder ads on how to transfrorm from a 97 pound weakling to a big he-man. The skinny kid in the picture was always having sand kicked in his face on the beach in front of a bunch of girls. Oh, the ingnomity!!! Sure enough, when I stepped on the scale that first day, I weighed 97 pounds. But life has a way of finding balance and for us skinny guys that balance is found on the bike and in the mountains. The Tokeneke Road Race in northwestern Connecticutt offered up the perfect skinny person revenge course - a 22 mile multiple loop course with the last 12 miles trending uphill - WWAAYY uphill at times. Three of us Downeast Racing racers entered the challenge with Matt Moon and Eliot Pitney in the Pro-1-2 field and me in the 50+ field. Each field had about 70 entrees (as did most of the other fields) - a good turnout to a well run race.  

 

 

New pavement on much of the course allowed for fast and aggressive racing. No opportunity for punishment by the skinny guys on the uphills was wasted and the leading groups melted under the unrelenting onslaught. Unfortunately, Downeast Racing beefcakers Matt and Eliot were on the receiving end of the figurative sand slinging and came unhitched from the lead pack on the back side of the 3rd lap. How bedraggled they looked as the came "no mas!" to the finish area. (But don't feel too sorry for them as they still managed a "Well, HEL'lo" from the lunch counter girl what with salt slick faces and all). Meanwhile, your now 143 lb reporter, was having no problems with the surges in his race and truly looked forward to the finishing two mile climb to the finish. But the unexpected is the expected in bike racing and on the final 50mph descent leading into the final climb, when a front spoke snapped and pinged-pinged-pinged against the front forks causing some anxiety - "Oh, wheel, don't collapse on me now - just get me around this last corner". Maybe the prudent thing would have been to back off during the descent, but with the prize of all the preceeding efforts just down the hill, who's going to do that!! The bike handled ok, the final fast corner was negotiated and the uphill run to the finish commensed with 22 guys focused on the prize awaiting at the top. Handled the first surge. Handled the second. Uh-oh, did not do well on the third. But wait. Hang in there and claw your way back on. That I did and latched on to the lead bunch just as we rounded the last corner and the finish line came in sight. Uhg - everyone snaps into the big ring and the final dash to the line is on. Bu-bye to winning as many surge away but I manage to tail in to a 12th place finish. Back at the car I note that the front wheel is rubbing against the brake due to the broken spoke. Yeah, that probably didn't help on the final climb and offers up a nice excuse, for as John McEnroe the tennis great, once famously stated, "Never accept physical or mental shortcomings, when you can blame it on something else!!". All in all a great day as racing is always fun. 

Results can be found here: https://www.bikereg.com/Results/rr/4863/tokeneke-classic-road-race