The lore of the Purgatory Road Race has been building within the Downeast Racing ranks for a number of weeks. We all heard stories of how great the course was, with a little something for everyone; sharp climbs, technical corners and sweeping descents. With beautifully warm weather on tap, 5 brave souls packed up and made the journey to Sutton, MA. Matt Moon, Travis Kroot and Dan Vaillancourt lined up in the Pro 1/2 event, Eliot Pitney took on the Cat 3 field and MVP Hank Pfeifle stationed himself in the feedzone to keep the DER athletes hydrated and firing on all cylinders.
The pace in the Pro 1/2 field was furious from the start. With a handful of teams well represented, the peloton struggled to find the right composition of riders to let up the road. Each time up the finishing 1 kilometer climb sapped the legs of that bit of energy, and the unrelenting chase of those riders hell bent on getting up the road began to take its tole on the field. With 7 laps of the 11 mile course scheduled for the P1/2 field and the mercury tickling 88 degrees, it became a war of attrition. First to fall was Travis, his day complete after 30 miles of racing. Next to pop was Dan, who spent the first 3 laps in nearly every break that went up the road, leaving Matt Moon as the lone DER rider flying the blue and red. The winning break was finally established late in the race, with 4 members of the uber strong CCB squad dragging a dozen riders clear of the field. The winning group finished a few minutes up the road from the remainder of the peloton, where Matt continued to battle for position all the way to the line. 53 riders started the day, only 34 finished, and there wasn't a spare drop of water in the feedzone when the event concluded. On the 6th lap Hank was seen guarding the last bidon like a mother bear protects her clubs. It was a battle both on the road and in the feedzone! Matt continued his string of strong and determined racing, no doubt earning some serious kudos for his efforts. If you see him out training this week, offer him your bottle, he'll probably still need the extra fluids!
Eliot was the lone DER rider in the Cat 3 field, and with 52 entrants in the event, he would have to be at his best if he was to get the best of his fellow racers and the Purgatory course. Much like the P1/2 event, the early laps had some inspired racing but with no major teams represented 2 riders were allowed to get up the road and build a 1 minute advantage on the third lap. With only 5 laps on the schedule, Eliot took the race into his own hands at the start of the 4th lap and pushed the pace, pulling 2 other riders clear of the peloton, including fellow Mainer Scott White of Rancourt & Co. The trio established a hard tempo and quickly bridged the 1 minute gap to the leading duo. Never more than 20-30" up on the peloton, 2 more riders were able to bridge across, and a group of 7 was established. The advantage of the 7-man break would ebb and flow with the groups willingness to stay organized, and with 3 guys sitting on for much of the last lap, Eliot and 3 others were left to do all the work if the break was to succeed. Not one to shy away from sticking his nose into the wind, Eliot shouldered much of the load in the final miles and dragged the break onto the foot of the finishing climb. Eliot put in an early surge on the lower steep slopes of the climb to test the legs of the breakaway group and when he sensed the group was fading, Eliot went again. Halfway up the climb there was only one breakaway companion clinging to his wheel and the duo crested the climb well ahead of the field and the remainder of the breakaway. Eliot knew there was no chance that his companion would come around in the final 1/2 mile run-in to the finish, so he took a few deep breaths on the slight downhill run-in and gathered his strength for the final push to the line. As the road leveled out in the last few hundred meters he dropped it down a few cogs in the rear and made one last bid for glory. He had just enough in the tank, winning by 1/2 a bike length, a great result.
Scott White hung on for a place on the podium, after shouldering more than his share of the work in the breakaway. Congratulations to Scott and Rancourt & Co.! It is great to race with a familiar face, especially one that was so strong on the day.
Thanks to Greenline Velo, the Town of Sutton and Pioneer Event Productions for putting on such a great event. Great course, good road surfaces, well marshaled corners and how can you not give them props for supplying podium girls?! We will see you next year for sure.
