MABRA Championships -- In which I get a new Hat & Jersey

Ok, so after 2 years of getting smacked around generally in the “Elite” 45+ races in the Super 8 series (Tacchino, DCCX, etc), and based on the fact that the 3/4 35+/45+ (aka “B Masters”) race at the Sportif Cup series races was earlier in the day, I did the B Masters at Psychocross a while back, and hey, I won the 45+ subgroup (let's be clear, I didn't win the race overall, I was like 8th or something). Suddenly I was actually tied for the lead in the 45+ part of that series with Pete Lindeman who had won the 45+ BCA race (that I skipped because it sucks).  What to do? well, I decided I’d need to defend that series.  So, I started doing the B-Masters races in the Sportif  series.  I had a disappointing 3^rd at Seneca (all these placings are w/I the 45+), but I won AACX, beating Pete; after AACX, Pete was slightly ahead of me, but he also admitted he was burned out and done racing.  I didn’t have a great Patapsco, getting 3^rd again among the 45+ subgroup, but it put me well ahead in the series.  Going into the MABRA Champs at Taneytown today, which is also the end of the Sportif series, I had a 40-something point lead over Pete, and a 68 point lead over Eric Schmidt of Cycle-Smart.  Eric would have to win, and me get worse than 21^st among the 45+ subgroup for him to overtake me.

In the past, I haven’t really like Taneytown, mainly the thick-ass mud, but today’s course was good, wide and flowing, but challenging with off cambers in good places.  However, it still is fundamentally flat.  It was a big ring power course, which doesn’t fully fit my profile (steep nearly unrideable hill, why yes, thank you).  Oh, and it was freezing cold.

The boys and I loaded up the car pre-7AM, as the sun was rising:

Liam went off first.  I got no photos or video because I was warming up for my race.  He didn't have a great race after several weeks off from racing. 

Then it was my turn.  It was grey and in the 30s (Garmin says average temp for the race was 35).  I got a front row start based on my points in the overall series.  I got possibly my worst start of the season, but my sole goal was to keep an eye on Eric Schmidt.  Well, I slot into the top 15-ish, and there is a cycle-smart guy right in front of me.  I’m fine with that.  If I can see him, I’m winning.  At some point, maybe 2nd lap, he got a gap after the wheel I was following didn’t go hard enough.  Still, I’m fine. (At some point a few laps in, something started hitting me in the face, and I thought it was gravel but then realized it was sleep & snow, just a burst).  Eventually Marc Klein rides up to me.  Now, Marc has a big engine, and this course should have let him kill me.  I jumped on his wheel and let him pull a bit, but he wasn’t going fast enough at times, so we worked together a bit.  Then with about 2 laps to go, I noticed some guys coming from behind (not super close, but getting closer), including a second guy from cyclesmart (that I thought was the 35+ guy from that team; I don’t really know either of them).  Still, I drilled it to put pressure on Marc and move us forward.  Marc indicated at one point that he couldn’t come to the front to work, so I thought he was on the ropes a bit.  On the last lap, going up the gravel road “climb” (more like a false flat), I got Marc to pull, but at the top I went around him so I could be first through the twisting section that was the last 1/3 of the lap.  It was all out time now, no holding back.  Marc was tenaciously holding on.  There was a technical drop-in that was barely rideable, and may have been faster to run.  On the last lap we were catching another guy, I tried to ride the drop-in, but he bobbled so I bobbled and basically stopped both Marc and I.  This was within 1 minute of the finish line.  I remounted and “hammered” as carefully as I could around the final off camber turn, and going on to the finishing pavement I fish-tailed in the gravel, but then sprinted all out to gap Marc, which I held.

When I crossed the line (12th overall), I gave a happy little pump of the fist, figuring I had secured the series.  Oh, but wait.  The Cycle-smart guy who was in front of us was 35+.  Eric Schmidt was the one who was chasing us.  I had won the 45+ 3/4  sub-race as well as the series!  So, I am the Cat 3/4  45+ MABRA Champion (I have a hat to prove it) and the Sportif Cup Cat 3/4 45+ Series Champion (I got a jersey to prove it).  I am officially the King of the Old B-Masters!  ;-)

New hat

Eric apparently left before the podium

 

Me & 55+ series winner Jim Bronsen photo by Broken Spoke Photography

a photo by Doug Graham

It may sound stupid, it's a minor thing, but I really wanted to accomplish this, and I’m happy I did.  I’ve actually never won a cross race, or series, or anything, so I’ll take this. Pete and I were talking about this.  We're good Cat 3s for our age, but will never be competitive with the guys who have been life-long Cat 1s and 2s.  So, among a bunch of strong guys like Pete, and Marc, and George Schultz and Eric Schmitt, I'm happy to have pulled this off.

Jake's race was much later (4 hours later).  He lined up in the back with the other newly minted Cat 2s.

Elite "scrub" zone

Jake got a poor start, slotting basically 3rd from last.  He admitted that he was surprised by just how fast the start and first lap really was.  He got gapped a little so didn't have the advantage of a draft so was working that much harder.  But I encouraged him to ride hard and try to catch guys from behind, which he did.
Here are some videos.  Prologue (he needed to be closer to the wheel in front of him):

 Jake has caught one guy and is catching a guy from Freddie Fu racing

He rode with him a while before dropping him

Jake chases another guy on the final lap

He was 16th, 7th among Cat 2s.  A learning experience.

It was a long day.  We didn't get home until 6PM. 

sunset on the drive home

Still 3 more races left in the season.  I’ll be back in the elite 45+, and playing Soigneur Dad to Jake.  Thanks to the sponsors of the Sportif Cup Series for the races.