Masters 45+ smokin' fast at ToWC
Even in the smokin’ hot weekend, the Masters 45+ team did not disappoint at the Tour of Washington County. After spending a whole weekend crashing Brian Fouche’s apartment in Hagerstown with three fine men from the Masters 45+ team, Mike Brown, Ted Harris, and Ali Meller, I thought I would pay them some well deserved respect with a report of their inspiring race efforts. Ace, just because you didn’t join the Saturday night party at the apartment, I won’t forget about you in the report.
First of all, thank you a million times over to Brian Fouche for kindly offering his centrally located place to sweaty racers. Hopefully it looks like it did when you left for the Tour of Ohio. We are thinking of you as you race 60-70 miles a day out there!
Stage 1 for the Masters 45+ race was a 4:00 start, and the race officials cut it short after a man from the race prior needed EMS support after passing out in the parking lot. I must say that I have never had heat stroke issues in the past, but the past two weekends have caused me to experience the thrill of chills and goose bumps in 90+ degree weather. I was lucky enough to mend my mild heat stroke wounds with help from Stu, who fixed my bike (Thank you!) and Janet, who offered me tons of water and a chair under the shade of her car’s hatchback. Needless to say, I did not stick around to watch the finish of the master’s shortened road race. They managed to stick a 2nd and 3rd place finish by Ace McDermott and Mike Brown, respectively. Their race was not unlike any other in that gaps formed in the hills. ABRT also managed to grab 8th and 21st places as well. Kudos to anyone riding that course alone or with a couple others; finishing is a feat in its own. Good work.
Double podium in Stage 1 marked some great start positions for the Stage 2 TT. According to the guys’ chatter at Saturday night’s dinner, four big name time trialists would be out there. All of those men finished the road race with the first group of eight, just seconds apart. The TT, as usual in all the races, would be crucial for the GC. Heat and humidity persisted. As I cooled down on the main street, they were off to make an impression on the course. Mike Brown TT’d his best with his road bike and clip-ons. Ali took the Slice for a ride; Ted with his fancy blue Cervelo. Ace looked aero on his Pinarello Montello. The TT times were amazing by my standards with Ali Meller moving up in the GC and Ace keeping his spot. Mike rode a valiant TT but unfortunately fell out of contention for the GC podium. Mike Bradbury, Grant Soma, and Randy Thrasher, all famed in the MABRA for their time trialing abilities, finished just seconds faster.
Stage 3 is the reason I wanted to write this report in the first place. I got to the course, changed into my kit, warmed up, and watched the second half of the Masters 45+ race. I got my facts about the first half of the race from Ali Meller via gmail chat. I asked him if he wanted to write the report first, and he said the team probably wouldn’t mind a little variety in writers. So I did the honors but have to credit him on some of the smooth lines coming up in this next paragraph.
Like all criteriums, riders have to find the wheel and stay on it during the surges. Blazing fast, blazing hot on the course, the main field steadily thinned out as riders went OTB, or “off the back.” As a sidebar here to the story, being a good student of the cycling world, I am constantly learning from other riders. Vocabulary and cycling speak are included in that. When I first started people would ask me questions and I’d just pretend I knew what a derailleur was and what kind of cassette I had. So, naturally, I had to learn the cycling slang, too. I didn’t ask what OTB meant but I’ll confess that it took me a good ten minutes to figure it out. Moving on…small gaps opened behind the lead group. The guys behind the split either chased hard or the front group slowed briefly. With all the turns on the back side of the course, it may have been hard to decipher. Ali said he was behind the split several times, but with each time he either grabbed Randy Thrasher’s wheel or chased on his own.
All the guys looked like they were trying desperately to stay on as the pace was cranking. As a spectator in-the-know, I believe that Ted was going to work for the team all that he could. I can say that Ace has 30-40 seconds behind the man in front of him in the GC. Hoping for a big gap, he was riding a smart race, drilling the pace at times, but mostly waiting for an opportunity to jump to close it up for the GC. Mike was out of GC contention after the TT, flying under the radar and going for the stage win. Ali said he rode not to lose big time, help the team, and also play his marbles for a chance at the win. It got exciting when Ali decided to do his move at the last second. He had been OTB, had chased back on, and caught the lead group. It was then that the group slowed a little coming into the sharp turn with four laps to go. Ali, who knew he wasn’t competitive in the field sprint, sprinted around the slowed group. He hammered through the corner and up the hill, claiming a big gap! Joe Jefferson was going nuts on the mike at this point. Spectators were all watching because this was cut throat. Mike and Ace would not have to chase and could sit in and prepare for a later move or the sprint. The group got a little closer after Ali started to lose his power. He held on, and then just after one lap to go, Mike Brown attacked the field. He caught Ali, passed him, and managed to keep his lead until the finish, crossing the line well before the field for the win. So exciting for a spectator to watch a great show of cycling prowess, especially when your own team dominates!
Ace managed to claim 4th in the GC, only 16 seconds behind 3rd place, Randy Thrasher. Mike Brown and Ali Meller came in 6th and 7th overall, respectively. With 2nd and 3rd place podium finishes in Stage 1 and a 1st place finish in Stage 3, it makes me wonder why the promoters don't offer a podium for photo ops. Even if we don't have a glory picture, way to rock it at MABRA’s one and only stage race.
