SIPC #1 Report: Wind, Cold, and Tactical Racing

Travis here with the coverage of "SIPC" #1: Yesterday kicked off the first Scarborough Industrial Park Crit of 2015. This year the Downeast Racing crew took the helm in running the race along with Jim Smith, the local face of USA Cycling and a huge key to this series' survival and success.

First off: the B Race, Zev and a fellow rider crushed the race from the start. They did a successful 2-man TT with Zev taking (I think) top spot on all primes! Zev also came in with a great kick (not something he's known for given his long distance background) and created some serious long distance over 100m on his fellow breakaway member! Matt Robinson patiently waited in the field as teammate Zev took the victory, when it came time to lay down his sprint...he quickly showed that he wants to throw down in the A sprints this year - and we hope to see him right up in them!

Onto the A race: as the Boys in Blue, we have some pretty big numbers for a local race and decided to break up into two teams of four, by what helmets we were wearing - letting the field know at the start line.
"Team Air Attack + Joe": Joe Lynch, Ta Herrera, Eliot Pitney, Travis Kroot
"Team Not Air Attack, Not Joe": Zev Myerowitz, Matt Moon, Matt Robinson, John Bouchard

It was a cold first race at just over freezing for the start, but there was no waiting around to ease into it. The crosswinds on both the back stretch and the start/finish made it a battle from the very start. Eliot took to the front - after the very early attacks were launched and promptly failed - and guttered the whole field, letting absolutely no one have reprieve from the winds. He rode to the opposite side of the road as the crosswind, so no one could sit to the side and be protected. I sat back in the pack attacks smiled at this bold, and effective move. He was burning up his own legs to dish out the hurt.

No one took to overtaking Eliot, attacking, or forming an echelon so it was just 30+ guys suffering in a crosswind. Soon enough, Matt Moon launched off the front and I was in place to cover. Joe Lynch joined us and we were 3 strong, intelligent riders; we were rotating perfectly into the wind and driving the pace. It was possible, barring very good field coordination, that we could stay away.

The Chase After Attack with 5 to go.

After a whole bunch of laps - and a prime where I took $25 and Matt got $10 - a group of 3 was dragged up by a star of the B race last year - Spencer. I was happy to see that both Ta and Eliot were the only guys with him, so now my entire sub-team of 4 was up in the break of 6. We worked together to get the mid-way prime, Ta taking the 2 points with 1 point for me. The break kept working well with the tough winds. As it reached 5 laps to go, I knew it was time for us to use our numbers to solidify a victory. I attacked on the slight uphill (tailwind) and used it as a launching pad, Joe was on my wheel and, after informing him I was attacking with a “Nooooo!” as he appeared to accelerate, he backed down and a huge gap immediately formed. I went into a TT I hoped to last 14 minutes or so.

Going For The Win p/b Dave Palese's Bike Fit!

After 1.5 laps, I take a peek back and Spencer is dragging me back – once again with Ta and Eliot – who were working hard to stick on his wheel. Now it was 3v1, and our chances were more solid than a 4v2. Another half lap (about 2 laps to go and before Spencer could fully recover, with Eliot and Ta still feeling the bridge back to me) and I went again, this time with the full intent to hold off my one, very strong chaser through the finish line. I looked back a few times and could tell he had started to hold the gap that I created. It was nice coming into the bell lap (1.3mi/~2K to go) with the spectators cheering about a solo rider! All I had to do was hold on for 3 more minutes, and if I didn't I had the comfort that Ta and Eliot can both kick hard despite the hard day we all hard. Coming out of the uphill with a bit over 400m to go, I knew I had the win. This knowledge made the last 30-40 seconds a bit less miserable, which was eased even more when I watched as Ta & Eliot cleanly take 2nd & 3rd place only a few seconds back.

It was a nice kickoff for the team, and I'm sure we'll see even more people coming out when it is neither Easter nor 27°F at the start of the B race!

I love racing in the wind. It quickly shows who knows how to handle adverse scenarios and adapt to them, whether by experience or quick thinking. Eliot crushed the field just by guttering the race, when even a single organized group of 5-10 would have neutralized most of the damage he was trying to cause. Then in the break, I took the helm of rotating one direction on the back stretch and switching the rotation for the start/finish section. Matt and Joe were smooth and experienced so it was easy with them. Once we had the 6 man group it was a quick "this is what we're doing" and everyone responded quickly and positively...all of this led to the break holding off the field. I expect that if the field formed an echelon to try to reel us back in we would have had a lot more trouble staying away.

And...I made a friend at the race.

The Easter Bunny sure liked the Downeast Racing baby blue!