Ohio State Masters Road Championships

BigDave put on a very well organized race. The downside was the course was less than challenging and the Masters 50+ crowd only did 3 laps (41 miles). Maybe it was kept short to prevent any of us geezers from having a heart attack or stroke during the race. In retrospect it was a wise decision. With all of the skittish riding the field took it upon itself to eliminate each other with a couple of crashes. Anymore laps and it may have turned into a last man standing event.

The first lap had a big crash in the back of the field on a down hill stretch. The story I heard, was someone was trying to catch a water bottle they dropped and swerved left into the group, causing carnage. The rest of the field survived and stayed intact.

At the start of lap 2 a few attacks occurred and it looked like the group had the potential to get split. However, as we approached the crash site, the race was stopped due to ambulances blocking the road. After a couple minutes delay we resumed with everyone back together and well rested.

The pace picked up a little on lap 3. A few riders were shot off the back in the middle of the lap as we reached the summit of the "big" category 7 climb. Then with a few miles to go we began the final ascent up the 200 yard 4% category 10 climb and someone a few wheels in front of me decided to look back over their shoulder and simultaneously veer left into the group. A lovely "tactic" that took out 4-5 guys and split the field. I was able to veer left and avoid any trouble.

So now we are basically down to a crit finish, a tight hard right turn into a 400 meter flat sprint. I was in the lead group, took the turn a little wide and too conservative and couldn't get anyones wheel for the sprint. Came home 8th with a semi-satisfied feeling.

I heard that the first crash resulted in a rider being taken to the hospital and crash #2 had lots of road rash and some taco wheels. I hope everyone recovers and they are back on their bikes soon.

I took my $10 prize money, bought me a case of Natty Light and sat on my deck until 2 AM with my huntin' dog, drinkin', and listen' to country music. Git-R-Done!!

Big Dave does a nice job. But I can't figure out for the life of me why the 6/20 Ohio Masters Race put on my Big Dave had a much more challenging and selective course while today's "State Masters Champeen-ship" was over a course that had zilch to separate the pack. I suppose some alliances could/should have been forged and a break could/should have been organized but that's a lesson learned for next year. Me and all two of my friends will have to have a pre-race pow-wow in Eleven. So what transpired on this day was a lovely Sunday ride held on a Saturday with little in the way of surges or hard accelerations and certainly nothing in the way of all-out efforts. There was a crash in the 40+ race ahead of us on the rather non-technical descent that looked pretty bloody that brought us to a stop and provided a momentary chance to pause and reflect on the danger of what we do and then that same reminder came crashing to the fore right ahead of me during what seemed like an easy straight stretch with only five or six miles to go. 6 guys went down in a heap right before my eyes and front rim. Man, these old guys go down really hard-I saw nothing resembling a tuck and roll, just bodies belly and back back flopping to the asphalt. These old guys don't move once they are down either. i think they were praying for a pick-em-up truck to end their misery and supplement their life insurance coming to their wives with wrongful death lawsuit proceeds (I understand one was placed in a ambulance-please forgive me for my glib nature-I wish you a speedy and uncomplicated recovery). So the thinned pack came to the finale which was truly stupid-a sharp right turn and then a 150 yd sprint to the finish. Nah, not my thang. Here's hoping maybe Big Dave will be big about switching the courses next year.