Boston is quiet on a Sunday morning. Joe Lynch, Ta Herrera, Jeff Dixon and Hank Pfiefle arrived in town to contest the Masters 40+ field at the TD Bank Mayor’s Cup. This sleepy city was slowly waking to the clanking and rumbling of a truck and crew, setting up orange steel barricades to separate fans from human projectiles hurling themselves at speeds of over 50kph through this 1 kilometer, four corner course in the heart of Boston.
In a quiet corner in this sleepy city, words of advice from a seemingly experienced local. “let me give you some advice, don’t let anything out of your sight in this town”. “Want me to watch your bike whilst you use the bathroom?” Well thanks to our supporters, the Blue Streak is insured but we would need it to make sure fast men interested in this $1000 purse do not get out of our sight.
A few laps in, there was a crash. Yes, bad form to take out the Patrone by his handlebars and send another to the hospital with a broken arm, just to advance your position. A couple neutral laps while we wait for the ambulance to pick up the even less fortunate gives many grownup men in this peloton pause, glad they are not the one to own this dubious distinction. With help at the pit, Hank’s blue Giant was running and so was he, dripping blood, but back up to speed, an extremely brief glimpse at the decades of dedication it took just to show up here.
Well, after about 30 minutes of "not letting anything out of our sight”, Ta Herrara, Professor, Pavement Melter, came out of the sharp end of the peloton. Well calculated, as his teammate Joey Lynch was right on the front end of this raging monster ready to throw monkey wrenches at its paws and jaws. Another brief look at dedication… One man, alone being chased by 60 others, wondering if he can go just a teeny bit faster than the rest, reflecting on if he trained hard enough over the summer. Another man, behind, watching, trying to slow the peloton down without letting them know they are getting slowed down.
And then the announcer amidst the din of bell ringing fans in TD Bank Tshirts. “Downeast Racing, off the front, and look at his teammate, on the front of the strung out peloton visibly slowing it down!” Well, despite our best efforts and the Professor digging very deep into his briefcase of courage, Ta’s one man break was eventually quenched, leaving him nothing left for the sprint finish. If you keep trying, sometimes it DOES work. But not this day.
At the end of the race, Ta’s wife and son stuck a fresh lemonade in his hands and Hank’s wife walked him back to his car. We thank our families for their understanding while we spend many lonely hours on the road. For their love, driving, food service and bell ringing.
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| Hank Showing Dedication Photo courtesy of Jeraldine Herrera |
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| Ta Digging Through his Briefcase of Courage. 4 men want this move to succeed, another 60 (shown behind) dedicated to it's demise. Photo courtesy of Jeraldine Herrera |
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