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It was more about survival at the Barry-Roubaix than anything else yesterday as race #1 of 2011 started off with temps near 20F. Being cold never seemed to be an issue as the pace lit up early with our arrival onto the killer stretch of mile long two-track on Sager Rd(photo in link below). Detonation of the cozy peloton happened instantly as racers fought for position. I struggled on Sager Rd and found myself chasing to get back into the lead pack before slightly over-cooking myself to bridge back up. After some friendly chit chat with Matter, Schouten and my A212/Specialized teammate Mikee P it was game on again. As the hills got steeper, the lead pack seemed to react like a huge bungee cord as we ticked off the miles. Nothing to exciting happened until just after crossing hwy 43 for the second time where a big crash at the bottom of a 35mph plus descent took down a handful of riders and split up the portion of the pack that I was comfortably cruising in. The crash was a wake-up call for me as I barely missed going down as it happened right ahead of me. From that point in the race 6 of us dangled from 30-60 seconds back until we were only four. It then became survival time for the rest of lap #1 as we tried to stay together picking off a few detonated bodies from the lead pack throughout lap #2. Just before Gun Lake Rd we swept up my A212 teammate and eventually Mikee and I were by ourselves cruising in a somewhat comfortable damage control mode and content just to cross the finish line finally. I finished 23rd overall after the final results went up almost 10 minutes faster than 2010. This course is a beast with its 5,000 ft of climbing and gravel that never seems to be very forgiving. Overall a great time this weekend with family and friends at an event that keeps getting bigger and better every year. Thanks to Rick P and all the sponsors for putting on the Barry-Roubaix! Pedal on...
SCOLE (@ScoleTrain) has shared a Tweet with you:
"BigBikesThom: @cyclingdirt This is the effective hole-shot at Barry Roubaix. The thing is DEEP and cold. http://bit.ly/dIjkb6 This race is gonna be RAW!" --http://twitter.com/BigBikesThom/status/51365321038245888
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