Coal Miner’s Classic – 5/26/2012 _ Men 35+ _ 1st and 2nd

Posted on May 26, 2012 by admin 2 Comments

Lined up today was Bob Dahl, Michael Gibson, Grant Holicky, Bill, Mcingley, Rob Kelley, Brian Todeschini, and Carlos Casali.  Fairly calm winds, a modified course from prior years and great temps made up for a great day in the saddle.  The numbers of racers were about 40 or so.  Len had a good plan for our team and we executed very well.  Attacks from our team after each of preme 1 and 2 by Grant, Gibson, Dahl, and Casali started the race to a fast start.  Single riders and sometimes 2 or 3 riders from others teams attempted jumps, but our team showed poise and patience at bringing everything back and lining things up for constant attacking from our teammates.  Throughout the race, we counted heavily on Brian and Bill and Rob to control the front of the peloton and bring back any dangerous moves, and the trio executed very well.  It was clear those 3 worked very hard, and very well to allow the rest of the team to take a breather from time to time.  With 6 laps to go, Grant went on a solo mission, and had a good gap on the field, and even though we were monitoring any moves and trying to help Grant, the course was just plain too wide open and flat making a single attack very hard to stick…  One more attempt by Carlos with 2 to go as Grant was being pulled back, but again all back together.  With 1.5 to go, that is when we all shined.  Suddenly, as we crossed 1 to go, we had 6 our team riders in the front of the peloton, and it was clear everyone else was looking for spot in the BO train.  Brian, Bill and Grant worked the front extremely hard and did no allow anyone to come through.  Carlos was 4th in line and barking directions on who should be pulling and when.  The front trio rotated a few times till it came down to just Grant and Carlos to lead Bob and Gibson.   Grant took one  last pull and pealed off with 400 meters to go, and although a bit far, Carlos looked back and noticed Dahl and Gibson on his wheel, and so he turned on the gas, and not wanting to let Dahl and Gibson down, dug deep to deliver them with 100 meters to go without allowing anyone to come by.  Dahl and Gibson showed their power and experience as they sprinted for 1-2 respectively.  Grant, after all his work, still had it in him to finish very well, although Carlos and Grant were searching for the oxygyn mask after the final sprint.  Great collective work, everyone played a key part of this win, and it was a pleasure to race with Bill, who made us all humble by coming down from the 55+ group to race with us and showing fitness and will to help us when we needed help, and it is always amazing to see Brian pulling attacks back all day long.   Len was very happy on the sidelines, so that makes us very happy to race for this team.