| Author |
Messages |
|
Christopher Page
Posts:242
 |
| 08/25/2008 9:26 AM |
|
Good luck to Mark Dutka, Bob Meikle, and Kelly Parsons as they travel to VT this coming weekend to race in the Green Mountain Stage Race. I have asked Kelly to report back to us on their exploits via the forum.
I remember when I did the race in 2004, I had just suffered greatly to finish the road race, which ends with a huge climb up the Appalachian Gap. Collapsing at the finish line at the top, completely spent after having to dig way deep to complete the climb, I looked back to see a rider finishing the climb behind me....with a waffle iron in his hand! Seems he saw a tag sale somewhere along the route, and had to stop for the item. Crazy!
Have fun, be safe, and kick ass! |
|
|
|
|
Kelly Parsons
Posts:75
|
| 08/29/2008 10:01 PM |
|
Fun? Nope. Safe? So far. Ass kicking? There was alot of that alright, but not by us. A lot of 50 yr. old mutants up here this weekend are dealing out the serious smack. We Mystic guys finished in the middle of the bunch in today's prologue, a 10K up and down TT w/ no super steep ramps, but the little ring was used @ times. Bob was not terribly pleased w/ the way he was feeling and Mark had some misfortune that cost him a few places, but I finished right where I should , 36th out of 66. Mediocre, but it is what it is. My time was within a few secondsof other people that I usually finish close to, so I guess things went OK. I had the lung burn cough after the TT (and still have it a little 6 hrs later) so I probably couldn't have gone much harder. Tomorrow is the 64 mile circuit race; I'll try to keep you informed. Later, Kelly |
|
|
|
|
Kelly Parsons
Posts:75
|
| 08/30/2008 10:21 PM |
|
| Things went OK today. An early break of two guys went up the road, one of whom was Bill Thompson who was 3rd on GC. This put all the pressure on Dave Viney in the yellow jersey as it was now his race to lose. The pack made it over the KOM pretty much intact and we dropped down Baby Gap to the turn that put us on the approx. 15 mile high speed run to the frinish. We were moving quickly and soon the break was in sight. When we could see the whites of their bibs a couple of guys shot off the front to bring them back. This was what the the guy in yellow was waiting for and he gave chase with yours truly glued to his wheel. Very cool; he never even thought of giving me the elbow to pull through. He just motored until we caught the chasers and we established a 6 man rotation until the break was pulled in. Believe me, I did NOT linger on the front at that speed. By then we had done about 35 miles w/ 30 to go and I started to feel twinges in my quads. Soon after Bill Thompson gets away AGAIN and 4 other guys join him. Adios, amoebas. We approach the KOM ( which isn't that steep, but it's followed by a false flat) and my calves are starting to protest, I mean beyond twinges here, it's like aliens are going to burst out of my lower legs. I try to stay calm and keep my big boy face on and things settle down as we drop down Baby Gap. We make the turn for the run into the finish and now it's time to panic. I look around though and I see a lot of guys trying to stretch their legs or shaking them and 1 guy was pouring water on his, so I figured I wasn't the only one feeling the strain. By now we were starting to smell the barn and the pace was picking up. OK with me, let's get this sucker over with! Absolutely no reason to sprint as we were all going to get the same time, but boys will be boys and off we went, Mark on the left and me on the right. Mark got 4th in the field sprint (10th over all) and I got 8th and Dr. Bob was right with us. Not too shabby Abby. We moved up quite a few spots on GC and were not among the 30 guys that got dropped along the way. We also didn't get caught up in the little crash 5 miles before the finish. No worries, I missed the guy by a good 6 inches. Oh yeah , once I got over the line at the end, my right leg locked up completely so I headed for a patch of lawn to fall on and assume the fetal position until things settled down. Much better now after a 22 oz. malted beverage W/ dinner. Tomorrow is the reality check: a 77 mile road race that includes going over Brandon Gap, Baby Gap, and the biggie, App. Gap. I hope I have good news to report afterwards. Later, Kelly |
|
|
|
|
Kelly Parsons
Posts:75
|
| 08/31/2008 6:09 PM |
|
I have GREAT news to report; we have a true mutant on our team and his name is Bob Meikle. Things went well today as all 3 MVC riders made it over Brandon Gap W/ the big boys (even me ,surprise, surprise). Things were relatively sedate as we climbed because the headwind killed the incentive on the front to jack the pace. I was quite pleased w/ this situation. we dropped over the mountain and screamed down the other side into Brandon and then headed north toward the other climbs. We hit the dirt road section and the pace was absolutely ballistic W/ bottles jumping out of cages and rocks flying and pinging into riders and bikes. We got through w/o problems and approached the town of Bristol which is just before Baby Gap. I was starting to feel some major twinges in my legs @ this point and I knew that my time w/ the group was coming to a close. Mark and Bob were looking good and I told Mark that I thought that Dr. Bob might be one of the freshest climbers in the bunch as he had been riding conservatively, sort of under the radar. When we got to Baby Gap I let the group go so I could set my own pace and limit the damage to my poor legs. Mark made it over Baby Gap w/ the group, but @ the base of App. gap he had to back off. Bob just kept working his way through the remnants of the field and was second over the line; this result is HUGE. This is arguably the most difficult road race in the Northeast and we are racing a bunch of guys w/ some impressive palmares. I don't think that Bob will ever be under anyone's radar again. I haven't seen the GC results yet,but today shook things up considerably. And now onto the crit. Later, Kelly
|
|
|
|
|
Kelly Parsons
Posts:75
|
| 08/31/2008 6:15 PM |
|
| Oh yeah one more thing. Meikle did some SERIOUS ass kicking today! K |
|
|
|
|
Bob Meikle
Posts:24
|
| 09/01/2008 8:19 AM |
|
Sunday's race was a major break through for me in a big time event. My legs were fairly fresh, having ridden conservatively the previous day and staying in the pack for most of the race until the final 5K climb. At the start of the climb, the leader took off and about 5 guys chased him up the hill. I just concentrated on keeping good form and getting in a steady rhythm. I kept an even pace up the mountain and started picking people off until there was only 1 guy left. I was closing the gap and he seemed to be struggling a bit, but I didn't have enough room or strength to catch him, coming up 9 seconds short to finish 2nd. I think I've really benefited from the support that Mark and Kelly have given me here and over the past year.
Bob |
|
|
|
|
Kelly Parsons
Posts:75
|
| 09/02/2008 2:30 PM |
|
| The Burlington Crit is one of the most insanely fun races that you can imagine. The start is just stooopid! The first three turns are supposed to be neutral, but it's always full rock and roll from the gun. Picture shaking a peanut butter jar full of hornets and then breaking it open with a hammer. Everybody just sprints to the bumper of the pace car as it does its best to stay ahead of the pack on the tight little turns of downtown Burlington. The car is a red Mini Cooper convertible and it's quite agile, but it still does some sliding on the tightest turns. Because Bob was now in the top ten he was called up to the front at the start. Bonus! Mark and I were squeezed as close to him as possible so we could benefit also. Once we got the go it was every man for himself; team tactics were out the window as everyone tried to protect their little piece of real estate while at the same time trying to steal a chunk from the guy in front of him. It was mandatory to stay away from the back where riders were dropping off one by one. Once that happens it's just a matter of time before you get the dreaded whistle telling you that your race is over. I found this out the hard way last year when I got caught behind a crash before the third(!) turn in the race. By the time I got to the back of the pack, I was too blown to stay there. I was determined to stay in this year. Also, it was an opportunity to claw my way up a few spots on GC and finish in the top half of 66 starters. I was allowing myself to feel optimistic as the lap cards flipped; I was toward the back of the field, but everybody around me seemed relatively comfortable and not too stressed as we bounced over manhole covers, potholes. and these ridiculous crosswalks that were painted with what appeared to be red wheel bearing grease. Mark was a few places in front of me and I had no idea where Bob was because there was never an opportunity to turn around and look. There was really no incentive to move up as no one was getting away and we would all get the same time coming over the line. Finally the last lap was over and what was left of the bunch (34 racers) went over the line, most of them just glad it was over and that they had made it through in one piece. Bob made it through enough of the crit to finish a commendable 16th in the GC; Mark was 24th in the crit for 20th overall and I finished 31st in both the crit and on GC. The absolute best part of this race is when your race is done and you're sitting at a sidewalk cafe hard by the course drinking a beer (Beamish Stout), watching the next race. It looks so effin' hard as you watch talented racers dangle at the back , drop off and get the whistle. It's loud too, with the sounds the racers going by, the announcer, the pace car squealing, and the occasional gut- wrenching sound of carbon fiber folding into the pavement immediately followed by the sound of a 150 PSI tubular's $100 bang. It's also a big crowd. If 60 racers are on the course and 60 are warming up, that leaves over 600 to watch. A lot of these people have family with them and Burlington has a vibrant local crowd on a beautiful Labor Day, with a bunch of sidewalk cafes along the course. It really is the coolest race that I've ever participated in and man oh man, am I glad it's over! |
|
|
|
|
Mark Dutka
Posts:94
|
| 09/02/2008 4:51 PM |
|
| Thanks to Kelly for all his hard work writing up our adventures in the Green Mountain Stage Race!!! It was a beautiful weekend to race and it was great to have teamates to race with!!! I have done this race every year since my first serious year of racing which I think was 2002 most of the time with no teammates and I can tell you it is much more fun to have some to share the suffering!!! This was the best year yet with the changes that were made to include a TT (which I royally screwed up in by making a wrong turn off the course) a new circuit course which was longer and harder then the old one but fair to all and the RR which added 11 miles and a new climb up Brandon Gap instead of Middlebury. "Graduating" to the Masters 50 was nice but I seem to be part of a pretty large and strong contingent of racers that are the same age so the racing was maybe marginally easier but certainly not easy but it sure was fun to be a part of a race that was motivated by tactics and we were able to take advantage of them with Bob getting the big result on the top of App Gap. I would encourage any of you who can get the time to come up and experience this race it is epic!! |
|
|
|
|
Ed Deming
Posts:54
|
| 09/03/2008 8:36 PM |
|
| Kelly, Mark and Bob - GREAT RACE - especially alien Bob! And great write up. Kelly, you clearly have another career ahead of you after Volvo's. No, don't get too excited, it's writing, not necessarily riding - but the riding aint at all shabby, either! WAY TO GO!! CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL - You guys worked great in an epic race. |
|
|
|
|
Kelly Parsons
Posts:75
|
| 09/04/2008 9:33 AM |
|
| I type even slower than I race, but Ive never gotten road rash from a keyboard. |
|
|
|
|
Rich Froh
Posts:319
|
| 09/04/2008 10:11 AM |
|
"Dittoes" to all three of you! |
|
|
|
|
|