Poolesville, Masters, 1/2/3, 3/4

Steevo and I carpooled up to Poolesville today as both of our races were at the same time. When we got there, we saw Chris Hayes packing up from his Masters race and got the low down. Chris took 4th in the race and fell victim to an early break away that stuck. I say "fell victim" because I wouldn't wish a 4 man breakaway on anyone on that course so early in the race. The instigator was a mix of top riders including Chuck Hutch. It seems that Chuck was unstoppable today as he won the masters race and then placed 2nd in the 1/2/3. We think that this puts Chuck in top place for MABRA points in both the Masters AND the 1/2/3...not sure that's EVER been done before. Kudos to Hayes for hanging on and taking his pulls in that break...that must have been torture...

Steevo did very well in the 1/2/3 and I'm sure he'll tell us more on his blog, but he finished 9th. That course is fairly well suited to Steevo's training and so he wasn't pleased with the result even though I was impressed.

The cat 3 race was my own personal version of torture. As Hayes says, Poolesville is a tough guy race. Those words echoed through my mind as I dangled from the back of the pack at different points throughout the race. A big part of this race is mental. It gets very hard and the cat 3 race was no exception with *someone* at the front really ramping the pace throughout the race. By the 3rd of 5 laps on this course, half of the group had been shredded off of the back. As the pace eased up a bit, it felt good to be in what I considered to be the final selection. As early as lap 3 I started cramping a bit. I could feel them, but I could work through the pain and through lap 3 and 4 they were managable as the pace had slowed down at that point. On the final lap, at the top of the hill on the flat section with the crosswind my cramps got the better of me and I folded. At one point, my right leg was completely unmovable and I pedaled with just my left leg. Thank God that Arik, Bike Lane, was kind enough to give me one of his electrolyte laden water bottles from his team's feed bag. Otherwise the final solo lap might have been even a bit more painful. I was able to finish the last lap solo and netted 24th (the last of the finishers today) of the registered 73 riders, although I think likely 55 or so showed.

Full Results Below :

http://www.ncvc.net/Race Results/2009 - Poolesville Road Race Results.htm