by Justin Reid and Matt Howard NYVC’s answer to Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin which begs the question, does that make Schmalz our Bob Roll?

View of the Pros from a Rear View Mirror

(sounds like a bad porn film or an equally dodgy Meat Loaf tribute band)

Bear Mountain. The biggie. CRCA’s Holy Grail of a Race. You’d better have a good excuse for missing this one.

In my case 3 elements aligned perfectly to ensure I wouldn’t be riding in this years Bear Mountain classic – call it The Perfect Excuse.

1. I’ve been to and fro’ing it from London on a monthly basis since July and training has been scarce. Good start but not enough to justify missing the biggie completely as you never know when all those winter miles will suddenly kick in (I’m still waiting by the way!)

2. Teammate Roger Friedman got married the night before. Congratulations to Roger and Peggy. Always good to score brownie points by taking Callum and Jo to a social event rather than yet another early Saturday night in front of the box, And we all know even a few beers / wines / martinis the night before can spell doom the following day. So excuse momentum is building but not quite there yet – after all I tell myself some of my best track running races came the day after an all-nighter (yeah! 15 years ago at college maybe – younger and not so wise…)

3. The lure of not having to stand in the cold and dark in Central Park at some yet to be determined spring date TWICE next season – marshal credits -ah combined with the other two that’ll do it!

So for me this years Fall Bear Mountain classic would be viewed from a different angle. Instead of suffering in the saddle I volunteered to help out Mike Green and drew the long straw as I got to be pace car driver for the main event – the Pro 1 2’s.

Result!

Back of the net!

Seeing the big boys duke it out over the hallowed ground of Tirorati climb. Arrived at the parking lot in good time and was told by Mike that I’d be sharing the day with Matt Howard of Blue Ribbon – he too had just got back from his honeymoon. (do any of our wives / girlfriends really fall for this crap? Weddings / honeymoons at the end of September.

“But dear, the weathers so much nicer at that time of year”

Bollocks – it means when you checked the race calendar at the earliest possible moment this year it showed a free weekend over the10/11th of September. It was only Mike Greens inspiration to hold a Memorial for Nancy Morgenstern and his subsequent hard work that ensured the events realization. Well done mate.

About an hour before the start I checked with Matt – “you think ½ tank of gas will be enough to get us round?” The wise words of a wise man answered

“Now bearing in mind the cursed nature of this race. Do you really want to be next on the list after”

The year the guy was suing the CRCA,

The year the fog cancelled the race

The year the ambulance never turned up

The year the dick driving the Pro1,2 pace car ran out of gas up the climb and blocked the entire road for all fields. ??? Gas station please. “Fill ‘er up mate” – conscience secured.

So off we went at a few minutes after 10am on a gorgeous September morning. A neutralized start and what looked like a fairly steady climb first time – then near the top Lisban of Mengoni (I think) attacked along with another guy. These guys are ballsy ya gotta admit. 75 miles to go and they are redlining it along the top at 35 mph ++. Memory gets a little hazy after that but this break got swallowed up pretty soon afterwards to be replaced by what I thought was a dangerous looking pack of about 12 guys or so. Impossible to say for certain but it looked like Todd Herriot was in there along with 2 Mengoni’s, a Sakonnet rider, Jason Beerman of Champion Systems and a bunch of colorful jerseys that alas meant nothing to me. Race radio reported that they quickly built up a lead of around 1min 45 sec at their peak. Gone for the day thought I.

Not so thought Matt.

15-Love to the man from Blue Ribbon, as sure enough a lap or two later it was all back together. A combination of the good weather, shorter race (than spring) and all round bigger field meant that with 2 laps to go instead of the normal 15 or so riders in the lead group there looked to be a pack of around at least 50 guys. Down into the U turn we swooped – to be greeted by a marshal standing in the way blocking the road and waving his arms and shouting. Oh no – not a serious crash I hoped. As we braked to a halt right before the turn the guy shouts out “WE NEED A f@#KIN’ BROOM HERE!” Smart move pal.

Just before 50 of the regions best cyclists plowed into our rear window the guy got out of the way and we made it around the corner without incident. Just.

Once around the bend it looked like Xavier from NEXT was putting in a move. That one didn’t stick but about ½ way up the climb a Westwood Velo rider who looked for all the world like Roger Aspholm (and probably was) really put the boot in and by the top had about a 30 second lead. Still along way to go but that move took “stones”. By this point we were passing Cat 4’s, Masters, and even a few Cat 3’s so it was impossible to say where exactly Roger was caught, but what was abundantly clear was that just after the U-turn and right hand turn into the long finishing straight a group of 3 had extricated themselves from the others. Fratini from Colavita, Pulla from Toga and a Fiori di Fruiti rider had got the gap and were swapping pulls and putting in distance. (By the way for me this showed exactly the big difference between the 12’s and the Cat 4 which I’ve been used to riding in. A lap to go and most 4’s would have been gearing themselves up for a pack finish, but in the P1,2,’s this is exactly the point where the winning move was made. When it gets hard, make it harder.)

So up the final climb and it looked like a truce might have been called, as the 3 of them looked to be riding a steady tempo with a view to keeping not so much their lead but enough juice to be able to welly along the top and stay away to the finish. Just at that point – maybe ½ mile from the top Fratini put in a huge kick and we really had to put the foot to the accelerator to stay ahead of him. The Fiori guy was dropped instantly but Pulla somehow managed to get up to the Italian’s wheel.

Impressive.

Both of them.

Through the circle and they had at least a 30 second gap – a winning one? Over to you Matt – “Yes”

30-love.

Not wishing to offend anyone who might read this but it looked ‘from the rear view mirror’ that Pulla was definitely driving this break and doing the majority of the work. Around the final turn and up that last drag of a hill and the pair of them swapped turns but also looked to be doing a bit of chatter – about ½ way up and the chase pack of maybe 5 or 6 swung into view. “Uh-oh” thought I.

“Nah – they are safe,” says newly married Blue Ribbon Ace Commentator / co-pilot Matt Howard.

Through the feed-zone and down the last approach to the finish – we gave the crowd something to get excited about by honking the horn and flashing the lights – who’s gonna get it?

“Pulla” says Matt. Game, set and match to the man in the passenger seat.

Sure enough as the two riders came into view past the parking lot it was the Toga ace that had one armed raised in victory – prior to shaking hands with the 2nd placed Fratini.

All in all a good way to spend a Sunday morning. Doesn’t beat racing but comes a close second. Thanks to Mike Green and everyone else who put on this race – it gets better with age. Full credit to Mike he has put on at least 6 great open races this season – all of which have been models of efficiency and organization. Thanks.

Finally – what can you say about the winner Pulla – or Melito Heredia as the results show him as. He’s been racing every week since the 1st Spring Series way back in March – and has now added Bear Mountain to his win at Mount Holly, as well as countless other races over the course of the season. Often this season he has been without teammates yet still finds himself of the business end of the result sheet. Someone asked me after the race why he doesn’t race for a Pro Team (like I would know?). The best answer I could think of was that, what Pulla does – simply nobody does it better. Take away his ability to freelance these races and do his Prospect Park, Central Park, Floyd Bennett Field races and make him ride support for someone else and you would take away the effervescence that makes him arguably the winningest racer in the 5 boroughs.