Sunapee recap: Two things stand out- Mike Spangenberg's performance and Matt Kressy's acceleration. First off, Mike Spangenberg probably rode the single most dominating master's race I never saw . By that I mean he and Leo Devellian attacked literally from the gun, and while we caught Leo halfway through the first lap, Mike didn't resurface on the pack's radar until just a couple of miles from the line. He damn near soloed the entire race! And this on a quad-rending course and a day where the wind was kicking up surf-able waves on the Lake. Even when he was finally reeled in by a strong Ciaran Mangan and 2 others, he still came within a bike length of taking the sprint. Phenomenal.Which brings me to Matt. With Ciaran and Mike's group of four 30 seconds up the road vying for the win, the remainder of the field came to the final climb strung out behind Tom Francis' wheel. For those of you who don't know the finish, it starts with a shallow pitch, followed by a couple hundred meters of flat, then a 300 meter grinder (or hoagie, if you prefer) to the line. When we hit the flat, Matt bolted like his proctologist had just whispered "time for your rectal exam, Mr. Kressy" in his ear. I mean he opened up a hundred yard gap before anyone could blink. He had time to look back, twice, complete his 2008 1040A with schedule C, and cruised in. He didn't just outsprint the field, he demoralized it. Me, I had a strange race. For roughly 35 of the 46 miles, I felt like 1990's version of myself. The version that could climb without a triple chainring and didn't consume a significant portion of his calories in the form of a distilled malt beverage. A much less gravity-affected version. I found myself going over climbs with the likes of Bill Yabroudy and Ray Johnson and was even on one occasion off the front with those two. Then, suddenly, on one of the rollers approaching the finish, the lights went out and I was dropped. Can't explain it, don't want to, prefer instead to hang onto the ego-inflating memories of the first 35 miles. In any case, I ended with a small group and we managed to latch on just in time to be blown back in the wake of Matt's supersonic turbulence :-)
Lake Sunapee Bike Race
Masters 35+
5 Matt Kressy
17 Adam Sternfield
Sunday's Wells Ave was both well attended and held under bright and sunny skies. We even had an under 25 Slipstream-Chipotle racer in field. Everyone was doing a double take. In what seems to have been a case of dejavu.. Adam once again chooses the right wheels after the halfway sprint and rolls away from the field as part of the 8 man break which sticks it out to the end. Meanwhile back in the main field, Brendan and Murat did their level best to get as much training benefit from this race as possible. Brendan could be seen pulling the entire field along on some laps, while Murat was drilling it on others to close gaps to the bridging attempts. Adam places 6th in a "sprint" that looks more like an uphill finish, while Brendan and Murat safely cross the line in the top 20 of finishers. A good day of racing indeed.
Murat streaks across the gaps at top speed. Nosebleeds were had by all who tried to follow his wheel.
We can't help but think that everyone else's team kit looks a little bit inferior..
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