Ah, yes, the Jamestown Classic. If you're a road racer in Southern New England, Jamestown is the last race of your season. Always on Columbus Day, it comes at a strange time - long after the summer crits and other road races & right in the middle of cyclocross season. For this reason, a lot of folks either forget about it or skip it, having lost too much summer fitness or gotten out of the racing mood. And the lower-categorized racers (Cat 3 to Pro) get no love - there haven't been any races for those guys in a while, just Masters races.
I admit I've been guilty of skipping it myself the past couple of years. The only race I'd qualify for - Masters 35+ - has been either too early, or the weather's been foul. But this year, I had no possible excuse. Sure, at 10 am I wish my race was a bit later, but with a weather forecast more like July than October, there was no way Mrs. SOC and I were going to skip this year.
And with views like this, why would you want to? Beautiful morning looking at the Newport Bridge from the starting line. The race is held on Conanicut Island and the start/finish is in Jamestown. One of the biggest attractions of the race is all the water & shore views. This is probably more a benefit to spectators, since racers don't get much of a chance to appreciate the scenery going by. But if you DO get to sneak a quick glance, you're stunned by how much beauty you're racing through.
It's 19.1 miles around the island, including a trip down the "Beavertail" to the lighthouse, and our race did two laps. From a downtown start, you race along the harbor then head slightly inland/uphill, crest at the golf course, then head downhill over bumpy pavement under the approach to the Newport Bridge.
Along the water again, then a very long, but gradual ascent for much of the way to the north end of island, over a few rollers. After you make a hard left to head back south, the "cobbles" section begins. This section of road has ALWAYS been AWFUL - and I heard a rumor the locals like it that way. I didn't see any this year, but in years past I'd see many water bottles flying off through this section.
Another hard turn, right this time, downhill swinging left and more rough pavement. When you finally get off the "cobbles" you'll feel like you're floating. Just in time for another "climb."
Ok, there's only one, maybe two, ascents on this circuit that would qualify as a true "climb." I've always said this race is a crit racer's road race - I never got out of my big ring even on the big climb. But the speed, not the gradient, is what gets you. Even gradual ascents were made painful by the pace set by the pack.
Continuing south, over rolling terrain, it's pretty fast and just about straight as a ruler, making it tough for breaks to hide and stay away. Since it's so non-technical, you can sneak a glance around at the farmland and coves.
Back through the west side of town, then a right onto the causeway. Crosswinds can play a role here. Gradual left, then another climb - probably the 2nd toughest of the circuit. More rollers, then the highlight of the race - the "Beavertail" loop around the lighthouse.
You have to be in good position going in, since the road narrows WAY down. And after so much racing all-out on pretty straight roads, the curves and corners around the island's point feel very technical. Nothing a crit racer can't handle with relative ease, but the rest of the course doesn't prepare you for this part. And, as always, if you stay upright & hold your line you're fine - but be ready for the inevitable post-corner attack: The speed ramps up quickly once you're around the lighthouse.
Back along the way you just came, over the causeway, then a right turn onto The Big Climb. It's a 3/4 mile ramp from sea level to one of the high points of the island. There's absolutely no undulation & no place to hide. I don't know the gradient, but coming when it does in the race, especially after one of the fastest sections, makes it feel just brutal.
The only consolation is that it's the last climb of the circuit. Hard left turn at the top, then a broad, sweeping S curve descent back down to the harbor, slight uphill and right curve to the finish.
And that's one lap of the Jamestown Classic.
I had no expectations coming into this race. My two A races in August were cancelled, even the last Rent' race was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Irene. So the last time I raced was a Ninigret training race sometime mid-August, and my last actual race was the Naugatuck crit in July. With Pedal for Paws, I basically laid off the bike for the month of September, posting my lowest weekly mileages of the year. And since I'd be racing a Masters Road Race (a combo that doesn't suit me), I figured I'd treat Jamestown as a hard workout and a nice ride around the island on a beautiful summer-like day.
I got what I expected. Mostly.
Over 40 of us M35+ racers lined up...
and we were the first of the "senior" races (as opposed to kids, Citizen & Cat 5 races). That's the Masters 45+ field lined up right behind us.
Other than the spectacular location, the nicest thing about this race is the familiar faces you'll likely see for one last time before the season closes. Friends Esteban, Rob, Joe, John, Scott, Steve & Kevin were all in my race, and other EXPO racers were in the Cat 4 race. It's bittersweet knowing the next time we'll race together won't be until the Bethel crits in March.
Given my lack of riding & racing motivation, I planned to sit in and do my best to conserve energy. Thankfully, right from the start, it looked like this would be no problem. Being used to all-out crits, the pace was pretty manageable overall, except on the ascents. It was hard to move up though. When you were going slow enough to move up, it was wall to wall racers. When it was all strung-out, it was suicide to try and move up too much into the wind. But if you watched closely, gaps would inevitably form - especially on the ascents. In this way, I was able to stay within the first 1/4-1/3 of the pack for most of the race.
One of the reasons I prefer crits to road races is that they're much more spectator-friendly. The Mrs comes to all my races and during a crit she can see a lot more of what's going on. Once we left the start at Jamestown, I wouldn't be back around for almost an hour.
Fortunately at this race, she has other distractions.
And eventually, we *do* make it back around. There I am, in a strung out field, passing through the start/finish and beginning lap 2.
And since the organizers start one field shortly after another, there isn't much downtime once the fields start coming through.
We all made it through the first lap without incident and the second lap started, unsurprisingly, a bit faster than the first. Nevertheless, though my legs were starting to tire from the effort (and lack of training), I started thinking about the finish. A couple of breaks had gotten off the front during the first lap & a half, but there didn't seem to be any dominant teams present and the pack would eventually catch the desperadoes. A sprint finish started to look likely.
As you may know, I like sprint finishes.
So I figured if I could just hang in there, get around the lighthouse safely and not burn too many matches on The Big Climb, I'd actually have a fighting chance at a top ten finish - or even top 5. That'd be HUGE for me, all things considered.
We got through the "cobbles" - much faster this time around - and the pace didn't let up going all the way south. We hit the causeway at speed and started the second-biggest climb. That was a total leg burner. The pace going up was the fastest yet and by the time I hit the top, I was pretty cooked & thinking I really didn't have another one of THOSE efforts in my legs. But I recovered and was in decent shape going around the lighthouse.
As we headed back north, I noticed a 3-man Berlin Bikes train gathered - Scott, Steve and Kevin were sticking together. I've raced with them all season and know they all finish well, any one of them can take a sprint. So I resolved to get on their train and try to hold on to the finish.
Unfortunately, the dynamic of the pack had other ideas and I got pushed (not literally, thankfully) off the wheel and drifted to the right side of the pack just as we came over the top of that "second biggest climb" - which going north is a screaming descent to the causeway.
I noticed a runner coming up the right shoulder. I didn't think anything of it - the roads aren't closed and we'd been dealing with the occasional car & truck all day - but we were going very fast and guys were trying anything to gain position before The Big Climb.
I don't know exactly what happened, but I noticed some guys moving left to give the runner some room. Then a wobble, that turned to a ripple through the pack, then bikes & bodies started flying - all in the span of a nanosecond. About half a dozen went down, a couple across my path. I narrowly missed John as he slid sideways toward me, hitting his helmet in the process. Another rider & bike jumped the curb in front of me, lost it on the rough ground and separated. Fortunately for me, the rider moved faster than the bike and I had just enough room to jump the curb myself to get around the bike & squeeze past the rider. I frankly still don't know how I was able to stay upright through the dirt.
The adrenaline rush from what I'd just missed came just in time - the front 1/2 of the pack was disappearing up the road and I started chasing.
I caught some stragglers at the causeway and hit the climb at full speed. And felt like I'd just jumped into a vat of molasses. The adrenaline that had got me to within striking distance of catching on suddenly vanished and I was cooked from the effort. About 1/2 way up the climb, I was just about to literally get off my bike and walk the rest of the way up when I heard someone behind me. Racers - heck, just about every cyclist - will know what I thought next: "I'm not going to give up in front of this guy." So I kept pedaling, my legs feeding on my pride.
But the body can only do so much and just before we crested the hill, the guy - #28 - came around me with a "Let's see if we can catch'em" as he rolled by. My crossed eyes could only focus on his wheel as he churned out a pace I was surprised I could manage.
After we made the last hard turn left and started descending, I thanked him for the pull and told him to get on my wheel. I'd been able to recover a bit and wasn't going to just coast into the finish - despite the front of the race being out of sight (and probably close to the line by then). I can go DOWNhill fast, so that's what I did. Pedaling as if I was a lone breakaway and enjoying the broad, fast, sweeping descent, the beautiful view of the harbor, and the welcome of the finish. I may have looked strange - or even a little foolish - racing so hard for so little. But I figured it'd be better to end my season this way than with a wimper.
I even passed a couple guys on the way and hoped for a top 20. It wasn't quite enough - I came in 23rd. But I'd avoided the crash, I didn't suffer TOO much during the race, and it was a gorgeous summer-like day on an island. I didn't need a better result.
Unfortunately, John's race ended back before the causeway. I'm not sure what happened to the others, but I know John got taken to the hospital. "Nothing too serious" I'm told - but even if he just went to be checked out and safe, he - and the others in the crash - have some uncomfortable days, and especially nights, ahead. Sucky way to end the season, but we're looking forward to seeing him at Bethel.
I had a much better time post-race (though I guess it woudn't take much). The Mrs & I had lunch at this cute place just around the corner from the start/finish. One of the (if not the FIRST) times I raced Jamestown, we ate here with some dear friends afterwards and it was fun to recapture that a little.
A few of the year's numbers.
So that, dear readers, marks the official end of my 2011 racing season. I may still post a report on my last Ninigret race (with SDC and MyShavedLegs no less), but for the most part this blog will move from race reports to riding & training. Considering the fact that I've recently "discovered" nighttime riding, I expect there may be a lights review coming up soon too. So stay tuned and don't be bashful about leaving a comment or otherwise checking in. It'd be nice to know that somebody other than my mom and the Mrs is reading all this writing. Actually, I'm not even sure my mom makes it this far....
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For those interested, Garmin race stats are here.
