NYVelocity readers have been spoiled of late with Schmalz’s sparkling race commentaries and Andy’s professional photo journalism. This story has none of that and sparse race coverage too – mostly based on hearsay due to this reporter’s total lack of fitness. If you want your name and picture in the next report, pushes up hills will go a long way. So if you were there your contributions would be much appreciated. Please use the famous NYVelocity comment box to tell your story and don’t ask for Tokeneke reprints for your mum, they are already at full resolution and scanned in from a borrowed disposable camera that was half melted.
The Race and bikes of the 4’s
@##=#<7,L>@##=#For those of you who have never been Tokeneke is Mohegan for lotsa hills. And judging by the way riders came to the line in small groups of mixed fields for what seemed like hours the hills and the heat did their job well.
In the 4’s the race unfolded as a war of attrition with the front group getting smaller with each successive hill until the last two mile climb. At the end of the first lap the pace quickened and half of the remaining riders fell of the back with about 40 riders remaining in the front group. By the time the field reached the bottom of the finishing climb the field had been whittled down to about thirty. After a succession of attacks twelve New Englanders snapped off the remains of the field and had what qualifies as a large field sprint at Tokeneke. But wait, one NYer, Andrew Cohen (Visit Britain) snuck into the front group and pulled off another impressive top 10 – with teammate Ivry Semel close by at 15th. These two guys are improving quickly – what is Smiley feeding them? Ben Harris was 45 seconds at 22nd. Not bad after a hard race on Saturday and a smoking 28:09 for 11th place overall in the TT the week before.
Pictured left is Ben Harris aboard his pimpy new Ridley Damocles, complete with Dura Ace SRM, and below, Lee Malone’s ’05 National Champs edition BMC SLT. First Pic after results is Ivry on his on his new ’06 team Lampre six13. Note 35 and 45 + riders are also pictured.
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Cat 4
1 CHRISTOPHER SCHMIDT QUECHEE VT HARVARD UNIVERSITY CYCLING ASSOCIATION 2:02:43
2 ARIEL HERRMANN CAMBRIDGE MA ESSEX COUNTY VELO ST
3 JUSTIN FINN TOWNSEND MA KENDA/ SUN RINGLE ST
4 ERIC PHANEUF STOWE VT ONION RIVER SPORTS ST
5 ALISTAR RATCLIFF ST
6 ADAM BRANFMAN NEWTON MA NEBC/CYCLELOFT ST
7 STEVE GATZOS JAMAICA PLAIN MA BOSTON ROAD CLUB/ATA CYCLE ST
8 ANDREW COHEN WHITESTONE NY CRCA/VISIT BRITAIN ST
9 RYAN HAUG MONROE CT BETHEL CYCLE AND SPORT ST
10 STEVE FRANCISCO WILLISTON VT MERCURY WEB SOLUTIONS / NAV ST
11 GERRY CLAPPER AVON CT BENIDORM / EASTERN BLOC CYCLING CLUB ST
12 AUSTIN MORAN REDDING CT ST
13 PASCUAL CAPUTI WHITE PLAINS NY CAFETEROS CYCLING CLUB 0:00:09
14 MATTHEW PECH HANOVER NH DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CYCLING ST
15 IVRY SEMEL NEW YORK NY CRCA/VISITBRITAIN 0:00:11
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Masters 35+
1 FERNANDO TERRIER FASTAR 1:57:38
2 BILL YABROUDY COVENTRY RI AFD/OSVC 0:00:04
3 JOSEPH REGAN BRANFORD CT BETHEL 0:00:07
4 CHRISTIAN ZAUNER VELO VOODOO 0:00:13
5 TODD ROWELL NASHUA NH NCC / BIKEREG.COM ST
6 JONNY BOLD MARSTONS MILLS MA CORNER CYCLE ST
7 WADE SUMMERS SOUTHINGTON CT BENIDORM – PROPERTY RESEARCH CORP 0:00:38
8 KURT GUSTAFSSON BROOKLYN NY CRCA-AXIS 0:00:42
9 JESUS ESPITIA CENTURY ROAD CLUB 0:01:00
10 PAUL CARBONARA CENTURY ROAD CLUB 0:02:43
Masters 45+
KOM DZMITRY BUBEN HAMDEN CT CCB/VOLKSWAGEN
1 DZMITRY BUBEN HAMDEN CT CCB/VOLKSWAGEN 1:56:51
2 JOSEPH RANO OXFORD MA GEARWORKS 0:02:29
3 RANDY RUSK EXETER RI ARC-EN-CIEL RACING TEAM ST
4 FRANK JENNINGS EDGARTOWN MA TEAM GEARWORKS/SPINARTS ST
5 PASCAL SAUVAYRE NEW YORK NY CRCA/BLUE RIBBON – TRANSLATIONS.COM 0:03:41
6 MARK LUZIO ARC EN CIEL 0:03:43
7 WILLIAM THOMPSON WEST HARTFORD CT BETHEL CYCLE 0:04:18
8 PAUL WONSAVAGE ETNA NH ONION RIVER SPORTS 0:05:09
9 DAVID KELLOGG PROVIDENCE RI ARC EN CIEL 0:05:22
Hey great race and nice article . I just found the site, I live upstate but Im going to start visiting more regularly.
I cant decide which is tougher Tokeneke or Houstonic? any opinions?
Good pics, it will help me in my bid to have my name put at 18th spot which they neglected to do due to me sitting up at the line.
Great job!!
The Crash – Word from the peleton is that @ the bottom of a descent there was a slight forked road. The group was being paced by a automobile with roof lights flashing, yet for some reason a rider @ the front had a moment of indecision @ this intersection and instead of just FOLLOWING THE CAR, he became confused and put on the brakes. This resulted in a accordian effect that most riders dodged but my teammate got caught in between two riders and clipped handlebars. He subsequently lost his balance, unclipped on his right sided and the next second his back wheel went up faster than the launch at cape canaveral. My teammate rolled over on his back and the bike landed on top of him along with two other bikes. He looked like he was in a moving bike cage as he and two others slid down the road a piece! Result – snapped stem! ouch. The group took off up a slight hill, separating the back half of the field, me included. I burned a serious match bridging back, however, this race would’ve burned my books before the end of the first lap, no question. If we werent climbing, were were decending. Literally there was next to no flat roads on this course save the finish line and the bridge across the water. The heat just added to the misery. We started @ 9. The 3’s started at noon. Peak hours for the raging sun on an unrelenting course!
The Descents – If you had the nerve, one could push the mid 50’s maybe hit 60. The key word here is NERVE. Though the descent didnt have any tight corners, it was pretty much all sweepers, however, the smoothness was decieving. There were no holes or ruts that I could see but there were these smooth little mump type conditions that, If descended in the saddle, It would pop your ass in the air, disrupting your control and breaking your concentration, and you were going down. At 50 mph. these little smooth heat bumps were hard to see and riding down with a group will raise the hairs on your arms. I never touch my breaks on descents but on this one I just didnt have the nerve to push it past 50mph, and believe me if you wanted to you could!
Climbing – The first hard climb came after riding rollers for a bit. These roads were nice and butter smooth. The first climb was like riding my bike up a hill that felt like it had been mortered. Bumpy as hell. It was doable but the group pace was not. I just bridged back up from the crash only to be dropped trying to keep the pace on this climb. It was quite long indeed.
The major climb was, well in a nutshell, equally if not more so as long, in the hot beating sun, on semi black top roads, with a false flat thrown in to make you remember the day you hit “add cart” on Bike Reg. to sign up for this insanity.
The locals were friggen strong. even the 45+ dudes were hard as nails.
The Verdict, This race is a season focus deal. Definitely not a race to get training for another event. If you want to stick on the wheels of the locals, bring your A game.
Looks like O’Malley is biting the Kabush look with those chops. How about some leg meat and potatoes as well?
**If you had the nerve, one could push the mid 50’s maybe hit 60.**
My personal rule: Always subtract 10 from any number a cyclist tells you unless you see the digital display yourself.
I was the first wheel behind Jeff when he crashed. Looked to me like he locked bars with a guy on the left. I was able to get around him, so I’m not sure who crashed onto him. Bummer crashing only 3-4 miles into the race, that’s for sure.
I’d say Housatonic is a harder course but they were pushing harder at Tokeneke.
3 or 4 miles and out + a snapped stem and the lingering bruises!
My polar clocked 49.7 mph max. and I was riding the brakes for most if not all of that long descent. I like to believe that I’m pretty accurate at speculating on a descents potential – I’ll throw in some crank strokes going down Perkins Memorial with no fear any day.You were there Aaron, what did you clock on this section and did you put any crank power into it? At first I did stomp down in the beginning. After I hit the first bump up, I backed way off the crank and grabbed a handful of zero gravity! Lesson learned.
I didnt ride Housatonic this year. I was to busy licking my wounds from Owasco. Many riders were saying that the climbs, though were challenging, werent as long as the Tokeneke stuff. It just wore ya down.
Housatonic, was mentioned to have daunting percentages but it was seemingly, with effort, up and over except for that last Constitution rd. business. Tokeneke had no tail add on routes the final lap. Ya did everything right up front both laps. I suppose if Housatonic added constitution rd. on BOTH laps??
I hit 45 coasting. Might have gone a few faster if not for the crowd.
After seeing jeff’s crash, I hesitated a little bit, thinking maybe he would need a wheel to get back with the group and well, I didnt want to work alone. I felt sorta guilty bustin outta dodge on’em after he went down so violently. The only thing I could do was ask him if was Ok. During my re-contact effort I saw jeff whiz by me in the back seat of the Campagnolo Volvo! I didnt even get the courtesy draft – the bastids!
You self-centered boys totally neglected to mention the women’s race.
We didnt get to see the women’s race, dont complain though – write on your own report!