Getting pumped about a 30+ mile race that has about 12 miles of unknown in the middle of it is tough. Throwing in a snowstorm 4 days before the race, adds an element of surprise. But when Saturday dawned sunny and warm, the 16 racers gathered at Madison’s Orton Park were visibly happy with how the weather shook out.
The smiles turned to winces by the time we all reached the off road portions of the M-B-M course, though, and the race was blown wide open long before that as everyone put to use their Alley-Cat skills to be the first to the dirt.
In the end too, it was Alley Cat skills that carried Crash Test and Number 9 to victory over a hard charging Jesse Lalonde.
The idea for the race was to pay homage to the Spring Classics of the European Pro Tour like the Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem, Milan-San Remo and the Hell of the North, Paris-Roubaix. John McNeill picked a great course that was tough and fun, and put on a great race.
Considering the a big chunk of the course was on an abandoned rail road bed, and it was wet BEFORE we had 6 inches of snow, we were all thinking it would turn from a race into a death march, but the race proved to be as fast and intense.
It was as hard as I’d gone since cross season ended in November and judging by how quickly I wolfed down my chow at the Weary Traveler afterwards, I must have gone hard enough.
There were no team cars and no screaming fans, just a handful of guys on bikes racing through farm fields under beautiful blue skies. Thanks to John, and everyone who showed up to race.