Peter post race.
The season continued this past weekend with the Lake Sunapee Road Race. A classic in New England, the race featured several leg breaking short climbs and ample terrain in between. A strong contingent of the boys in blue attended, featuring Sheehan, Masson, Coutu, Bell, and Fleming.
The start was early, but brisk with a flurry of attacks right out from the start. The MetLife boys positioned themselves well in these first groups attempting to break free from the group. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and the right combination of riders and teams could not seem to pull itself together. There’s nothing quite as disappointing as missing the break and frustration turned to fury as MetLife worked to keep the gap cloase.
On the second assent of course’s toughest climb, a group of nine riders were able to create a separation which would persist all the way to the finish. Containing, CCB, Bikereg, IF p/b Ora and Wheelhouse, a good portion of the peleton shut down, giving the break the window needed to seal the deal. Having missed out on the break, Brad Sheehan rallied the troops, putting Corey Masson and Chris Coutu to the unenviable task of trying to bring back a start-studded breakaway. The two were able to nail the group to a 30 second gap and when a couple of other individuals joined in, the catch looked possible. But it was not to be, and the group ahead extended its advantage to 1 minute.
Eventually, Sheehan and Fleming took over the pace making at the front, and with the peleton under their supervision, we were able to sweep up 2 riders who had been dropped from the break. The team looked to have played it’s cards to the best the situation allowed, setting up for a sprint for 8th, when the group was neutralized with 1km to go as a result of a crash that occurred in the cat 4 field.
After an hour of waiting in the hot sun, we were restarted to finish the last km, but with stiff and heavy legs it was a difficult finish. As it turns out it may have been a better strategy to ease up and get dropped so as to be more fresh for the finish, as several riders who had previously been out of contention managed to find themselves in the top placings. It was a good race with a bad ending..a learning experience. We wish the best to the injured riders on their way to recovery.
Coming up, the MetLife p/b groSolar crew splits the ticket with half the team travelling to the three day Killington Stage Race, where those with proclivities towards climbing and time trialing will get a great test in for the stage races later in the season. Our second crew is on the docket at the Tour of Somerville, an NRC criterium right in the backyard of MetLife’s Bridgewater, NJ office, as well as several other races in the region for our Mid-Atlantic squad. More on both events so check back.