Jim Merrifield
For not having much to show in terms of results, I can not remember when I worked harder. But hopefully it helped my teammates. The first Saturday in June was the Lake Geneva RR - a gently rolling course thru the country side. The course was not going to thin the field but the winds could make it tough. In the Masters3/4 race, Greg F and Mike M were active early. Greg was off the front late in the first lap (if I recall correctly) when Mike M bridged up to him and much to the surprise of David S, Glen and myself, the pack let him go. So the boys were off to the races. David, Glen and I did our best to disrupt and discourage any attempts to real the boys in. David and Glen were very smooth about getting into the pace line and just not pulling thru. I spend some of the time further back waiting for someone to want to do something and then quite a few times, followed them up. Saw quite a bit of elbow waggling and hand waving up there. Sorry, not pulling thru but thanks for bringing me to the front! At about 3 laps in, one guy bridged up and I hoped that would be enough to let Greg and Mike finally move outta sight and mind but the winds kept them in check and in sight. So we kept throttling back the pack. A few times, I felt I needed to move up, usually on the windy side of the pack, to discourage the boys by half wheeling to lead rider, pinning him to the yellow line and keep the second rider from moving to the head of the line. It worked very well to slow the pack but cost me a lot of energy. With about a lap to go and some boys at the front driving into the head wind and gaining on the break, I decided to play that trick again, hoping that discouraging them just one more time might do the trick. And stayed up there, keeping the dogs in check as long as I could but the break was caught - and I was hosed. If someone had countered, I am not sure if I could have worked back into the pack. But I recovered on the downwind section and fought to stay in good position in the front, hoping to help Glen, David or Greg or Mike if they had any gas let in the tank. Or at least try to soften up the competition by forcing one or two to ride in the wind coming into the final corner. As luck would have it, all but Mike were on the right side of the pack while I was on the left and when I told Mike to get on the wheel, he said he was gassed. So I was kind of a non-factor at the end, wrong place to help but it was a fun race, trying to keep Mike and Greg away.
The next day was the Sussex crit and we (Glen, Patrick, Greg and I) got together before the race to talk about the plan. We would all get to the front with 2 or three to go and then I was to bring us to the front early in the last lap for as long as I could, giving over to Patrick, with Greg then taking Glen to the line. It was another windy day and while it was unlikely that a break was going to go anywhere unless it was 3 - 4 people, I decided I would patrol the front, just in case. A few solo efforts but nothing to speak of. And like clockwork, the boys all got towards the front with the laps winding down. And then sand started to get in the strategy gears. With a couple laps to go, NO ONE wanted to be in the wind and the front started to get crowded. Patrick decided to keep it fast and went to the front but taking the pack into the head wind took its toll. I then took a turn at the front, more to keep from getting swallowed as much as anything, trying to save something for the final go. And then fought to stay close to the front. I could feel there was no leadout in my legs but hoped that I could grab an early wheel up the side and then go strong into the final corner, hopefully bringing Greg and Glen along. I came around the final corner in the top 4 or 5 and then BOOM. Time to move to the side because the only thing that was going to get me up the final climb was knowing my spare wheels were in the pit. Glen however was 4th, getting overtaken just before the line, thanks to Greg bringing him forward. And despite the suffering, another fun race working as a team.
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