Heading into Jiminy Peak, Merrill Lynch/Hincapie Sports was looking for a three-peat, having claimed Palmer and Harriman the two previous weekends. However, their plan to be represented in all the breaks went awry almost immediately when a break slipped off the front while Michael Sherry stopped to tweak his rear derailer barrel adjuster.

At the other end of the pack, it was Matt Howard (Blue Ribbon/Translations.com) who initiated the break. As at Harriman, Howard rolled off the front after 5 miles, then rode tempo to test the waters. When teammate Justin Lubeley and 4 other riders (including Michael Margarite of Gotham, Dieter Drake of Saab/CRBC and Nick Turner of Boston Road Club) bridged, it was game on. Howard was concerned that ML/HS and Westwood Velo weren’t represented in the break, but decided to press on rather than sit up and cover the inevitable counter moves.

Towards the end of the second lap the chase began in earnest. ML/HS put Sherry and Daniel Byrne on the front, to be joined by Champion System’s killer B’s, Jason Beerman and Tom Bencivengo. Roger Friedman, Ted Neu (both Visit Britain), and Scot Willingham (Metro/Sanchez) also put their backs into it. Soon the chase splintered into a small group that included Byrne and Gregg Galletta (Wonderwheel), followed by the main peloton.

Sherry would bridge to the small chase group, and feeling good, continue all the way to the break. A disheartened Howard knew their 30 mile adventure had come to a close. At the bottom of the downhill it was gruppo compatto, albeit single file. Only about half the field of 120 remained at this point.

Next the attacks came thick and fast, with Beerman putting in multiple efforts. A six man move containing Beerman, Byrne, Marc Cesare (Metro/Sanchez), Ed Ceccolini (Westwood Velo), and Jonah Tower (Quad Cycles/Arlington Bicycle Club) eventually stuck and opened a sizeable gap very quickly. Though initially promising, the break was doomed by the refusal of one of the riders to work. Beerman slipped away while the others while the others ‘negotiated’ with the non-working rider. Beerman stay away until the final climb, while the others were caught about a mile from the climb.

Sherry, recovered from his earlier bridge effort, attacked on the climb. Howard attempted to follow but had spent too much energy in the long break. With 400 meters to go Sherry began to flag, and was passed by winner Rich Hollenbeck (Capital Velo Club) and Peter Salon (Cuevas). Sherry would hang on for third.