Tour of Connecticut

by Eugene Boronow, Team Mengoni

New Haven Criterium

The entire population south of Westchester must have had the same travel plan, because all roads to New Haven were packed on Friday afternoon. We thought we would make it to the start on time, but registration closed while we were still on the road, and I had all of the entry forms. It seems that there were a few other teams in the same situation, so the organizers relaxed the rules a bit and allowed late arrivals to register.

With the slow creep of our approach, it was nearing start time and we were super stressed. Thanks to cell-phones (I’m a recent convert), we were all able to communicate. The guys who were there got our race numbers, but I had their jerseys. Traffic near the race venue was at a standstill, so Lisban and I parked in the first spot we saw, and rode to the race with cell phones to our ears. I didn’t know where to go, so Scott (guest rider from Texas) guided us in like a plane through dense fog. We found him, gave him everyone’s jerseys, got our numbers, we found Jason Bremer (who arrived at the same time as us) and gave him his number, and we went back to the car for the quickest clothing change since the single-zip body suit. We got to the start with a few minutes to spare.

The race: Fast. Very fast. Then it settled down to a firm pace. Then it got faster. With 5 laps to go, we reached ludicrous speed and riders were popping off the back in twos and threes. I was at the back of the long line with half-a-lap to go when I heard the crowd cheering on the other side of the course. Thirty seconds later, I finished with the same group time as the winner, Vasilli Davidenko. Lisban finished 23rd, even though he crashed earlier on. He said that it was impossible to move up in the final laps, and all he could do was hold his position.

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After the race, we drove out of town to get something to eat. This ended up being pretty silly, since New Haven has lots of good restaurants. A few miles down the road, we saw nothing but chain restaurants and quick marts. So we headed back into town. Unfortunately, this was a problem throughout the weekend. Most populated areas near to the highways had fast food or bad food, and it was difficult to find something good to eat. The best food was near to colleges, or in towns a few miles off the “beaten path”. The health of a nation is at risk.

Waterbury Circuit Race

The course was a 4-mile loop with a lot of climbing. Lisban was the only one of us who stayed in the race for a while. The rest of us had problems. This was particularly disappointing for Jason Bremer and me. We usually climb very well, and we should be pretty fit right now. But we had a bad day on a course that offered no mercy. Our guest riders also didn’t have a great day, and they were done (though we already knew that Trent had a previous commitment).

It was a tough day for those who stayed in the race, with a selection process was very slow and exacting. The group remained large and in-tact for much of the race until late, when the Navigators turned up the speed to shut down a breakaway. They closed a one-minute gap in one lap (4 miles). The group split up and in the end, there were 4 in front, then a group of 17, then fragments trickling in behind.

It was a terrific course, and I would like for us to have done better on it. The residents along the route were out cheering for us, barbequing, drinking, and having a great time. There was one stretch of road that had a large grass median, and a band was playing on a temporary stage. One time going through there, I heard them singing the lyrics, “Yeah, go you bikers…” Oh yeah, and there were a couple of kids heckling those who got dropped. That was pretty funny.

Torrington Road Race

Jason Bremer woke up sick, and was facing a difficult decision. He wanted to race, but he didn’t want to jeopardize the rest of the season by making himself worse. So he made a late decision to drop out. I, on the other hand, had no excuses. I was riding poorly, but I my health was good. Lisban was riding well, so we expected him to more of the same. There were two of us left and when talking about our race plan, we decided that Lisban should race with his head and try to finish well, whereas I should go with the early breakaways and try to get some publicity for the team. Considering how I felt the day before, I had no ambitions of finishing well. But I made sure to wear our new uniforms, showing our current sponsors, because I had no doubt that I was going to get on TV. Did I mention that it was raining?

The course was demanding early on (and throughout), and the pace was high. There were many pro teams in the race, and all wanted representation in an early breakaway. So it was difficult for anyone to cut loose. But Alejandro Acton (from Argentina, living in NYC) got away and, a while later, two others broke away too. It was at a good moment too– there had been a lot of accelerations, and the whole field had just come together. I was setting up to bridge across to the two and just when I was about to attack, a bunch of guys called for a nature break. Damn! I would have ruffled some feathers if I had attacked at that moment, and I enviously watched the two riders disappear up the road toward Acton. Those guys stayed away for a long time and one of them (Bryan Smith, TIAA-CREF) took over the lead in the KoM competition.

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I still tried to get away, and pretty soon I did. I was joined by riders from the Kodak-Sierra Nevada and Snow Valley teams, and we had a good thing going. The biggest gap we heard was 1:45 from the field, but 2:45 to the leaders. Ok, this was good—there was a camera moto dedicated to us, so maybe I would get what I wanted. We pressed on for a while, but got caught at the top of the first KoM climb. Perhaps it was just as well, because the field was a lot smaller, and Lisban was gone. If I hadn’t broken away, I may have been with him. Did I mention that it was raining?

I stayed with the group and tried to recover, but the next two climbs were very difficult. I barely made it back to the group over one of them, when I was with a small chase group drilling it through the countryside. We made it, though. Oh, and the rain stopped.

After all the major climbs were done, I started thinking about the next PR opportunity: Being first to arrive into town. The race covered 120 miles before doing circuits in the town of Torrington, and we had just finished 110 miles. I moved to the front, where there was a bit of urgency in the group. The Navigator team had been setting a firm tempo, and there were some attacks starting. There were splits up front, and I was keeping a close eye on the action. There was a moment when the action stopped, so I launched an attack. But man, did my legs hurt! I looked back and the group was bunched up across the road (a good sign), but I wasn’t going very quickly. The terrain was undulating and I couldn’t get into a rhythm. I saw a Webcor rider coming up to me, slowly. Soon there were the two of us, and we were closing on Bryan Smith, the last survivor of the early break. We caught him going up a steep hill, and Kodak-Sierra Nevada rider flew by us. Over the top, Webcor and I got the Kodak’s wheel, and we were flying downhill into town—whoopiee! Looking back, there was nobody there. The three of us entered the circuits riding flat out. When we passed the start/finish area, there was a crowd of people cheering and flash bulbs popping. This was all exactly what I wanted (publicity, remember?), but I didn’t expect to get it so late in the race. We got a gap of 34 seconds and maintained the lead for another 3 laps, when we heard that there was a chase group coming. In an instant, Mark McCormack (Colavita) and Todd Wells (Capital Velo) joined us. Without waiting too long, McCormack put in an acceleration that dropped me and the Webcor rider. But over the railroad bridge, I gave it some gas and closed on them. But the camera moto was between me and those guys. Around the turn, and the moto gapped me off! I accelerated to get up to them, but McCormack looked back and hit it again. I was off. The field caught me, and I drifted to the back.

Up front, the remaining Navigators (they were pretty tired at this point) lifted the pace and created the final splits, with 23 riders in the front group. Unfortunately, they didn’t catch McCormack and Wells (I guess the Kodak-Sierra Nevada guy got dropped too), who went on to win the stage and the overall.

So I got the publicity I wanted—but did I? So far, the main photos are of the early break (which I missed) and of McCormack and Wells (who dropped me). They mentioned my name in cyclingnews.com, but I wanted more. As of now, I fell short of my goal, so I’ll have to wait for the OLN coverage to see if our uniform turns up there. But aside from that, I also got more than expected. I didn’t know how long I was going to last in this race, and I ended up being (briefly) in the winning breakaway. There were a lot of friends there cheering me on and helping me in the feed zone. I’m pretty happy.