Niagara Classic Race Report

For O-Cup #3 we faced a familiar friend, Niagara Classic. Just so happens that this friend is sadistic and best to encounter in small doses.

This year, the lap count was reduced from seven to six, with KOM points up for grabs on laps 1, 3 and 5. Judging by how things went last year, I got enough power to climb pretty well, but sustaining that power to the top requires a lot of recovery through the back stretch, while the lighter guys are still fresh and setting the pace at drop speed. After all that abuse, my legs start cramping towards the end and it becomes excruciating to maintain pace, let alone pose a threat through the final climb to the finish.

So how did things go for 2009? Well for one, the team and supporting clubmembers fared much better, all the S3s finished, aside from our captain who was DQed in Lap1. Thinking that a few hard efforts would open my legs, I decided to go for some KOM points, so I attacked viscously on climb one, swallowing the field from behind. I nearly bridged a gap on the climb, but he picked up his pace when he saw me sneaking up on him. When I realized I couldn't catch him, I flopped in my saddle and conserved for future climbs. A few other riders bridged the gap behind me, and we briefly worked together in a break, but all of us were cooked and I turned yellow at the thought of pushing that pace for 5 more laps. Back in the peloton, I usually staked a position near the front, sometimes pulling to answer attacks or prevent them, then on climb 3 I went for some points again. This time, two other riders were with me and they both outclimbed me... and the same guy got 1st again, so his king's jersey was in the bag. With no need to contest future climbs, I resorted to recover for the finish.

In the final lap, like the year before, the pace picked up and there was no way to move up in the peloton smartly. With each lap, the field reduces in size, so you unexpectedly find yourself in danger of getting shelled. On the descent, I was amongst few stragglers in a rotating paceline to catch the field, with two teammates coming to my aid. The gap was no more than fifty metres and after a minute or so we were sucking wheels again, but at those speeds it seemed to take forever to catch on. As the peloton pressed on, my legs were searing and any attempt to move up was futile. Along with two other teammates, I was caught in the back of the pack around the final corner. My best hope was to climb like I did in Lap1, but my legs weren't nearly fresh enough. In the foothills leading to the final climb, I realized the pack was shattered, many were sprinting through the false flat... I thought they just might blow up on the climb so I picked up the pace, but still tried to save something for the end. I started the climb with a bunch of guys I marked in throughout race, but as it turned out, the real threats were way up ahead. I pressed on, climbing 15 seconds faster than my groupetto, but there was no way to catch the smartest of the field.

Turns out that the KOM and 2nd place finisher was a MTB racer, he claimed that this was his first road race. The 1st place finisher was also unknown to the pack, so there's still a few surprises coming up in the season. Alas, 7th place is much better than last year, plus 3rd place in KOM is good for shits and giggles, while holding 3rd place in O-Cup standings is par for the course. Overall, the team did well, with strong finishes in all categories.

Looking forward to racing the Bruce this weekend, my summer stomping grounds since I was two months old!