CRCA: TEAM CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
September 20, 2008
We'd done well all season, but the team cup was on the line. The hoards at NYVelocity had moved a couple of points ahead of us in the standings, while Metro--building on the Prensky wonder and great performances by Lindholm and others--was a few points behind. With 2.5x points in the finale counting toward the championship, it was as if the rest of the season didn't exist. Either Setanta won this race and got the cup, or not.
Given the importance of the race, we broke with tradition and practiced a couple of times early in the morning with lead-outs in the weeks before the race. We doubted anyone would let a break get away under these circumstances, so we needed to have the leadout down, aiming to place multiple riders in the top 7. Though he'd upgraded to the A's, Diczok came to give guidance, moral support, and sprint competition, and a bunch of others came too: Rivera, Laskey, Forsyth, Siebert, Vogel, myself (others probably too, but memory fails). Under cloudy skies we'd start the train at Tavern, and roll through the riders until the final sprint. We were shaky at first, but got smoother as we went. No other time had we tried a leadout with more than 2-3 guys. A lot needed to go right for it to work.
Switch to early morning Sept. 20th. Velocity has so many guys they have to move some to the C's. Metro is well represented. But we had a great turnout too -- biggest of the season. Guys really came out to make it happen. And it counted. The laps were fast, lots of breaks, but there was always a Setanta either in the break or shutting it down, with Todd Brilliant stepping in especially to keep control of the race, as he had all season. Coming into the final lap the last break had been caught, and we had to see whether our game plan would work. Velocity was lining up their mega-train. There was a line of yellow and blue metro riders trying to wind their train up one more time. A bunch of Setantites were at the front, but the guy who was to be in front of me--Matt Rivera--was no where to be seen at Tavern. Chris Forsyth moved in, along with Eric Kuo and powered us around the bottom of the park. He never took air when he didn't have to, grabbing a draft from a velocity rider who led the pack for a while and others. We were nice and close to the front going really fast around carousel and I wondered when Chris would wear out. Then Rivera arrives, shooting up the side of the pack and locking himself in front of me for the 2nd to last position of the leadout. I start yelling at him "go, go, go -- nothing left -- it's the end of the season" and he's hammering his heart out. People in the pack start to realize, "this is it," if Setanta gets away with this leadout, they win. I have Alistair, Chris and JB lined up behind me. A Velocity rider bangs into Alistair trying to get on my wheel, but Alistair holds his own -- saying something like "no way, mate." Unfortunately this banging around knocks Chris and JB off my wheel.
I have conserved my energy all race, all season for this. Just like planned, Rivera drops me off at the very front of the pack at the boathouse. Like a horse let out of the gate, I put the pedal to the medal shooting up Cats Paw at close to 30mph. The pack drops away. I'm in a tunnel just wanting to make sure I can let Alistair off on the other side of the hill. I keep hammering, still no one around me. It's surreal. One of two riders who managed to stay on Alistair's wheel later said that he looked back at the top of the hill and the rest of the pack was waaay back. I get to the bridge before the Met finish, my usual sprint point, and Alistair still hasn't come around. At that point, I'm running on fumes, but there's no more racing after this for the rest of the year. There's nothing to hold back, no room for regrets. I just keep going until about 100 meters from the finish Alistair blows by me like an airplane to take first by a mile. A Velocity rider, Greg, gets 2nd. Abraham Soler, a great sprinter with Organic gets 3rd. I get 4th. And Christoph Jammet nags 5th. JB gets 7th.
Setanta 1 and 4 (and 7th). Velocity 2 and 5. Setanta wins, just barely. Just one place lower at any point and Velocity would have gotten it.
It was a great finish to a great season and B-cup competition. Lots of good teamwork and individual performances along the way by all. In the end, despite having fewer numbers, despite going ahead an having one of our top riders upgrade to the A's, when they'd placed high in a lot of park races, despite not having money for team coaching, we still were able to work together as a whole team and win the season finale and cup. What a way to finish!
- The Prof.