Mark Alden Union Vale

Union Vale Road Race 35+

June 29, 2008

Mark Alden CRCA/BlueRibbon-Translations.com

This is one of my favorite races on the calendar. I love the course which has a great mix of punchy climbs, long fast sections and a blast of a
descent that takes you screaming past the start area at 50mph. My
personal history at this race has been pretty good with a win and
several podiums. Today however was about how well our team worked
together.

On
the first lap Ralph Warmuth/Westwood (my break partner at Balloon)
rolled off the front and then punched it pulling away from the field.
Even with some spirited chasing (especially from my teammates Sal
Abbruzzese and Eddie Espitia) it took us about ¾ a lap to real him in.
I considered trying to bridge up to him but it seemed unlikely that
what worked at Balloon would work again.

On the 2nd
lap Dan Staffo/JW Dundee’s and Ryan Haug/Connecticut Coast pulled away
on the feed zone climb. With the field having chased Ralph for much of
the 1st lap I figured that it might be a good time to try
something. I put in a massive big ring acceleration and blew past Dan
and Ryan (actually nervously between them since they were spread across
the road). Looking back I saw Troy Kimball glued to my wheel and a
handful of others behind him. The field looked pretty shattered at that
point. About ¾ of the way up Troy took over and carried us over the top
at a good clip. We had a group of 10 or so that included Dan Staffo,
Ed Angeli/Horst-Benidorm, Kurt Gustafason/Axis, Troy Kimball, Ralph
Warmuth and Ryan Haug. My teammate David Taylor was the last to join us
about a mile after the top of the climb.

Over
the next 40 plus miles the break (which was eventually reduced to 8)
worked very well together. So well in fact that when I dropped my chain
on a climb Troy and David pushed me as I struggled to get the chain
back on. After repeatedly trying to shift the chain back on to no avail
I had to reach down and grab the chain and put it back on the ring. Dan
Staffo was also kind enough to point out to those within earshot that I
am the service manager at a bike shop. Thanks Dan!!! I actually do know
how to adjust the shifting on a bike.

The
break stayed together going into the finishing climb. I was a little
worried about Ryan Haug. because for most of the race he was flying up
the climbs. I was hoping that he had overextended himself and would
have much left for the finish. Also looking very strong was Ed Angeli.
After only a few minutes of climbing David accelerated and started to
generate a gap. I waited a minute or so in order to gauge where others
were at. Once it was clear that I could drop the remaining riders
without endangering David’s lead I put in my own effort and rode at my
limit distancing the riders behind me. At the finish David and I were
separated by 5-10 seconds. He turned around pointing his index finger
to the sky as I was doing the same. To cap things off for the team Sal
was the first rider out of the field finishing 9th.

Back
down at the car it was all smiles handshakes and hugs. Yes I said hugs.
That’s the way our team is. You couldn’t ask for a higher degree of
camaraderie. For some twisted reason these moments remind of the scene
in Tommy Boy when Chris Farley first meets Rob Lowe’s character and
says “brothers don’t shake hands brothers gotta hug”.