Maine Apple Classic: Dan fires us up!

Mr. Podium: Eliot Pitney
 

Dan Vaillancourt was excited this morning. Was it because of the Maine Apple Classic 44 mile road race, which was about to start? Ummm ... somewhat. Was it because of the sun dappled crisp Maine early fall day? Ummm ... Kind of.  Here's a guy who, at the pro level, rode the Tour of Ireland and the Tour of Chile and the Tour of Utah among many other pro races, and what excites him this morning? .....Wearing his wind vest!! Go figure. Maybe it's what it symbolizes. Changing seasons - Changing fortunes? But, no. In retrospect it wasn't anything deep like that. The vest was just a cover for the fact that he just loves riding his bike. And to get to do it with 60 like minded souls on a perfectly surfaced course with seven equally amped teammates - well, yeah - who wouldn't be excited. So Dan laid out the Downeast Racing team plan for the race. And you know what? We executed that plan to perfection. Well, almost. We got two guys (Fred & Eliot) into a five man break during the first ascent of Cross Hill (4 x 11 mile rectangle loop) and we then controlled the chasing pack allowing them to establish a safe time cushion. The one wrench in the plan was Eric Follen (Momentum Barracuda) who attacked and attacked and attacked on the last assault of Chase Hill, got his seperation, and solo'ed in from 7 miles out. Change of pace on a hill - fun if you can do it and very tough to handle when it's being administered. Good job, Eric.The remainder of the break stayed together with Eliot taking 2nd, Brendon McLaughlin (Boston) 3rd, Eric Weinrich (Momentum) 4th and Fred 5th. Our Matt Moon stayed alert and niftily built a 2nd break from the field with 6 miles to go in an attampt to nab 6th place money but, sadly, it must be reported that he got nipped at the line by a break-away companion. Good aggressive move, though, Matt. And Dan? He was all happy directing team traffic throughout the race. And not contect with that, he (and Eliot and Zev) rode 70 miles back home just because you can't beat time in the saddle on nice day - especially when it's cool & crisp and you get to wear your wind vest!