Scarborough Crit #1: The Team, Together

April means a lot of things here in Maine. But for us cyclists it is the very real start of the racing season both locally and around the Northeast. The 7-week series happens every Sunday in Scarborough starting in April. Some racers use it as a good preparation for the season to come, others use the B race to learn racing or get to Category 4, and for some it makes up a bulk of the racing focus for the early season.

For some of us with winter injuries, this will be used as a really nice fitness test, and fitness building, to prepare for racing now and races later in the season. I'm 2 weeks into being back outside and came into the race unsure of where the legs/body were.

There was a good showing for the first week of the year: I don't know the number of starters, but it's much more than the 21 finishers - a bit of wind and some splits in the field led to a bunch of dropped riders. The team had 6 men in the field, which was nice considering all the guys who were at Battenkill that day or the day before. 20 Laps of the ~1.3mi loop, makes for about a 1 hour race. As the race slowly ramped up, we kept watch of the front. Ta Herrera was the man of the day, being our strongest sprinter so far this season. However, the field wasn't happy cruising as a big pack. Nate Smith made a move off the front, which was followed by Eliot and 2 others. The leaders got a substantial gap, so I kept watch of the pack - keeping the pace warm but not hot - when a strong rider jumped across. I realized despite being on the front I was the closest Downeast Racing guy and attacked up to him. Once we were close to the break, with only slight field response, I helped close the final gap. Now we had 2 men of 6, OA had 2 as well. Within a couple laps, Matt Moon followed a bridge by Andy Haskell. We now had 3 of 7 (the guy who bridged with me had overcooked it), and up to 40 seconds on the field. Now we had the chance to get Matt to pick off primes while Eliot and I conserved for the last few laps.

A shot of the breakaway coming into a Prime. Eliot on the front and Travis (me) ensuring the Prime for DER.

Good thing we did, as with 5 or so laps remaining the strongman Eric Follen attacked. Once again, I was in position to close the move and the two of us quickly gained on the field. After 5mins+ of suffering trying to keep up front, Eliot somehow made the bridge after winning Battenkill yesterday! I was happy to have him. I was fading, but alive, and having a teammate is always a huge security come trying to win the darn thing. 2 laps to go and Eliot launches a huge attack. Eric can't respond to the acceleration, going full out into TT mode. I'm impressed that Eric managed to catch Eliot with ~600m to go with excellent timing on the only slight uphill in the race, so that when (not if) I countered he had a chance of getting second place over Eliot. When I jumped, I got a gap on Eric and shortly thereafter the band snapped and I solo'd in to the win. Eric held strong for second. Eliot completely set up my win and I think he's happy with the 3rd place after his showing at Battenkill the day before. Matt was second in the sprint from the break, and rounded out us having 3 in the top 5!

We landed a good bit of cash and prizes in the primes, making sure to spread the spoils amongst our breakaway companions. I don't think Matt went home with any of the nutrition he won in the primes!

For this first race as a team, I think we did a great job together and stayed alert and aware throughout the day. Definitely a promising start to being a cohesive group and having a successful first year together.

Results and race series info here: http://gorhambike.com/about/2014-scarborough-crit-series-pg928.htm#results