FLCC> Marcellus Race Report

[Matt Howey]

This weather is great. A little warm and a little humid, but you know
what? I'll take it over some of the crap we've gotten as of late.
Anyhow, the racing got underway out of Marcellus Park with probably
about 13-15 riders (we kept gaining riders with a few late arrivals out
on the course)...so by the time we got out to the start/finish line I'd
say we had a good solid 15 riders including Paul Komanecky, Dave Faso,
Tom "Boonen" Forte and Jake (the "super-juniors"), "mountain biker" Dan
McCarthy, Kate Stewart, Jason Haight and many more...
 
Race 1: 4-Laps, ~11 miles
Started really pretty quickly with a few nice acclerations that didn't
manage to split the group too much. Finally, William Nicholson showed up
after two laps and immediately him and Paul Komanecky decided to take a
flyer. Although the group worked pretty well chasing, no one rider put
in that big effort that is required to close the gap on a pair like
these two, but they didn't extend their lead much. Not sure which one of
them took the sprint, but I'm sure it was a fun drag race up that
finishing rise. 
 
Back in the pack, Jake rode tempo at the front coming into the final
rise. I was on his wheel and ready to pounce to the line, when -- out of
nowhere -- Tom "Boonen" Forte comes flying past me up the left. An
impressively executed sprint it was. After he said something along the
lines of, "I've been watching how they do it in the Tour de France, and
they do that all the time." -- if there is anyone you should be
emulated, I guess it would be those guys. LOL!
 
Race 2: 4-Laps, ~11 miles
After our relaxing "rest lap" after the first race, we all lined up for
another go at it. This time the racing started straight out of the first
corner. Dave Faso provided frequent treats to the lactate clearing
system every time he would put in a dig, and there were many times.
William, Dave and Paul were driving the pace and I managed to barely
make it on their wheels. After I stopped seeing stars and tires, I
looked around to see that it was now us - Komanecky, Faso, Nicholson and
Howey. We team time trialed for the remaining few laps, with me
sandbagging a little and missing a few pulls at the front. Komanecky and
Nicholson fought it out for 1st with myself and Faso going for 3rd.
Again, not sure who the winner was, but Paul came by me pretty fast in
the end, so I'm going to say it was probably him. Faso told me, "I
wasn't going to let you beat me in a sprint after sandbagging it like
that." -- haha, you got me!
 
Great racing tonight guys and gals! I'm hoping for many more nights like
tonight. The turnout was good and the racing was excellent. HEY ITHACA
GUYS - COME ON UP!!!

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