Oh, what athletes would do without that ever-useful aphorism “You win some, you lose some.” The adage applies to MetLife Cycling’s performance at the Sturbridge Road Race. With trees blossoming and turkey vultures soaring, the northeast bike racing crowd enjoyed yet another spectacular day in the sun. Unfortunately, not even a beautiful spring day could change the team’s luck.

With collegiate season wrapping up soon and the decision to take Sturbridge off the list of official team races, MetLife brought only four riders to the race: Ryan Fleming, Corey Masson, Charlie McCarthy, and Aaron Molloy. Race organizers decided to change the course this year which included a lengthy and undulating hill approximately five kilometers in length. The hill was the warm-up as a neutral start showcased the course’s pain feature. Atop the hill, the lead cars hit the gas and the racing was on.

After descending the finishing climb, attacks started to burst from the front of the field. Molloy was quick to react to everything and spent the first few miles jumping from wheel to wheel. The team troubles began early when McCarthy dropped his chain only a few miles into the race at the base of steep and quick hill, forcing him off his bike to fix the problem, and losing desperate ground. A dropped chain usually doesn’t force a rider out of a race, but given the demanding speed of the hustling peloton, McCarthy’s time trialing efforts to catch back, even with help from Kenda/Raleigh’s Mukunda Feldman, who had suffered a derailleur issue, did not surmount to anything.

Meanwhile in the field, the speed of the first lap left riders gasping, including Molloy who had been dealing with stomach problems all morning. A three-man breakaway including Kenda/Raleigh’s flying Jason Beerman, Targetraining’s Matthew Baldwin, and NERAC’s Ward Solar escaped during the second lap and held off the field for the next 35 miles. Fleming and Masson hung tough in the group while the finishing climb continued to blow riders out the back.

While the break worked well, it was no match for the ferocity of the peloton and the three escapees were caught within the final few kilometers. Sirens sounding and blue lights flashing, the Pro/1/2/3 crested the hill with Rite Aid Pro Cycling’s Robbie King, urging his bike forward with every ounce of strength he had, taking the win by feet in front of the sprinting pack. Fleming and Masson came through in the peloton, glad to be done with the bad luck, bad health, and poor odds.