Race Report: 2008 Three Village Tour RR and YMCA Rose Pedal Criterium Pro-Am

As told by Adam:
Saweeeeeeeet!! Nice job [Matt]! That [Portsmouth] race is a real barn-burner, isn't it?!! I love how you come out of that 4th corner every lap single file in a line of 80 guys at supersonic speed. Reading your report of a field sprint finish, though, comfirms that I made the right decision to go down to Norwich...BTW was Skip okay after his crash? My brief weekend race report goes like this: Did the 45+ Three Village RR on Sat. The promoter combined the 35s, 45s, and 55s- even though he had substantial fields in each. Said he didn'thave "enough resources". Anyway, on the last lap a break of about 15 guys including myself, Bill Y, Ciaran, Dave Potter, and Mark Gunsulas got away. Coming into the sprint, I made a major mental error that I'm still kicking myself for. I said to myself, "Damn, here's another big break where I'm gonna get 11 or 12th and come away with nothing". Sure enough, I did finish 12th, but I completely forgot about the fact that we were seperate races, so technically I wasn't sprinting against Bill and Ciaran, I was sprinting against Mark G. and the other 45s. If I had remembered that, I definitelywould have fought for better position on Mark's wheel (he won). And the funny thing was, all of us 45s (there were 4 in the break) sucked in the sprint- we finished 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th! Not saying I would've won by any means, but I honestly think I cost myself at least one spot (and a podium). Well, live and learn- mental errors can be just as costly as poor physical preparation....
Sunday in Norwich was hard. Very tough race. Short laps with a steep hill and no chance to rest/recover. Break of 4 got away (inc. Tim Unkert) then a chase group of 4 (inc. Amos Brumble). Late in the raceI bolted and Bill Y bridged up. We hung on for 9th and 10th (me). So, overall, not a bad weekend. I was hoping for maybe a little bit better, but I surely can't complain...Weather permitting, I'm gonna try for one more race: Next Sunday at Ninigret.
Full results from the 2008 Three Village Tour RR
Full Results from the 2008 YMCA Rose Pedal Crit