The sun Gods were smiling on this years Turkey Point Road Race on the North Shore of Lake Erie Sunday
May 9th. The morning began cloudy but the sun came out after the first twenty minutes of action and
stayed out the rest of the day. It was cool though with a stiff 25-30km/hr wind out of the northwest
and temperatures around 11-12C. This factored into the race making breakaways all the more difficult
in the headwind portion of the 17km loop.
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Once again Peter and I packed the road bikes in his peppy Honda Civic and headed out from Toronto in
the early morning to try our hand at another road race, this time without the huge steep hill which
was such a killer at Effingham. On the way down, we noticed flags standing right out rippling in the
stiff wind and figured this was in Peter's favor since he's a big rider and bothered less by the wind
than us little guys. Big guys generate more power than smaller lighter guys but they have more to drag
up the hills. Certain conditions favor certain riders. Rarely in a road race do you see
the climbing specialists giving the big strong sprinters a hard time 200 meters from the finish line.
But, by the same token, you don't often see the sprinters on the wheel of the smaller lighter climbers
just before the crest of a mountain pass.
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We stopped for some donuts in Hamilton and got turned around trying to find Highway #6 South
out of the city. There were no signs to indicate the way and so we wound up arriving late at the race,
with just enough time to register and put the wheels on the bikes and get to the starting line. We had
no warm up at all. In talking to others later we found we weren't the only ones who bailed off the QEW
at the highway six cut off and into the twilight zone.
There were an awful lot of riders rushing to get to the line on time as well. I was lucky I could
mix my sports drink and pin on my numbers while Peter drove at close to double the limit so I arrived
only to toss the bike together and register for the race. Peter missed the registration and had
a temporary number on his back because he had to park the car.
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The race started out a bit slower than Effingham. Probably since it was longer and a different strategy
was necessary for the five laps totaling 85kms that the Cat 3's had to do. The course had some rolling
hills, one scary decent with a very sharp, tight right turn at the bottom, and two climbs that get your
attention but are not like the knee grinding wall at Effingham. The finish line was at the top of the
second and slightly larger of these two climbs. There was a long portion of flats to recover on after
the climbs and in general I thought the course was wide and safe. The roads were smooth enough, and
free of debris that you didn't really have to watch where your tires were going, but could instead
watch the riders around you and your own position among them.
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The first lap was a relatively easy pace and I treated it like a warm-up just sitting in about a third of the
way back in the pack, which was my plan. I didn't want to slip too far back in the pack so as to miss
a break or have to bridge up solo if the pack split up. Better to stay up toward the front to keep
an eye on the potential breaks. This means holding your position with a bit of aggression. If you
back out of every tight spot you find yourself in, very soon you're at the back of the bunch and that's
not the place to be if you want to place in the finish.
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The first lap was my first look at the course and I liked what I saw. I was checking wind directions
and conditions and remembering the best spots to ride in for optimal draft in the different sections.
The steep decent with the sharp curve at the bottom caught most of us by surprise as I heard the exclamations
of close calls as a lot of riders took it pretty fast. Not fast enough for me though. This turned out to be
a great place for me to jump up 15 or 20 spots in 150 meters as the next time around everyone slowed right
down and spaced well out except me. I stood up and sprinted down the hill passing many riders and hammered
on the brakes at the bottom for the curve. I got real low and dropped the bike right down for the curve but
my tires were still breaking loose just a bit and my bike slipped and skipped a bit around the corner.
I heard the other riders complaining, as this is dangerous because I could take other riders down if I
don't do it right. The only clear road you can hammer on is on the inside as all the riders are outside
to take the corner as wide as possible. I had every confidence in my brakes and tires and did this move
every time around. I'm small and can get really low in the corners and with the Michelin Axial Pro tires
I have on my Colnago Extra Light, corners are my specialty. That is until I push the limit too far one
of these days and go down in a turn.
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Things picked up a little in the second lap as everyone now knew the course and it was time to race.
I held on out of the wind in the front half of the pack as I planned, so as to save some juice for the end.
A few solo breaks, and a couple with two or three riders went off the front a few times but no one seemed
worried and they were reeled back in soon enough. The pace was solid and you could start to spot the strong
riders in the bunch. I was tucked in nicely most of the time and just cruising easy and jostling around to
hold my sweet spot and stay in the draft. A few times I got hung out in the wind but just got down low as
possible and held my spot. I'd hear guys riding around me panting like they were going to die. I wondered
where they'd be when the going got heavy? Off the back I suppose.
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Then in the headwind portion of the third lap a break opened up and by the time I noticed what was going
on about 12 guys were off the front and up the road about 60 meters. The headwinds were too strong to even
consider a solo bridge. So I moved up a bit to keep an eye on this situation and get ready to join any
serious looking bridge attempt. We held them there for a long time but they started getting away slowly.
Must have been some strong riders in that bunch. They increased their lead over the third lap and by the
forth were solidly away. Then Peter went into steam train mode and strung the whole chase pack out single file
on the long flat smooth portion with a headwind. He was hauling the pack along at around 53km/hr for the
whole stretch. Everyone was working to stay up and a few riders were off the back and history in this section.
The guy in front of me let a gap open up and I had to sprint around him and grab a wheel or risk getting
dumped. Everyone went around him and I suspect his race was over.
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This gained us back within striking distance of the break, which was now spitting tired riders off the back
too. But they must have seen us closing in and worked together because they got well away in a hurry
and we never had a hope of catching them again. We swept up a few of their spent riders and I think they
fell off even our chase pack being out of steam. I noticed that our chase pack was much smaller on the
last lap as there must have been around 22 of the 52 starters spit out off the back. So it was time to
start working and mixing it up a little. I did some pulling and kept the pace up on the last lap and
hammering down the steep decent one more time got me ten meters off the front but I let up. No way could
I stay away for even one climb and there were two climbs left, and the finish line at the top of the second one.
I just rode hard and tried to stay as close to the front as I could and came ninth in the chase pack and
18th overall. I felt some solid pain sprinting up the last hill to the finish and I'm sure so did everyone
else.
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It was a great day and a fun race. I'm new at this and still learning but sure have caught on to something
that makes me feel great. I really enjoy bicycle racing. My average for the 85kms at the finish line was
37.5km/hr. Did a bit better than the last race and hoping to keep moving in that direction. Happy cycling
and I'll see you at the races!
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