Quabbin Cat 3 Report - Unabridged!

[PJ McQuade]

This year Quabbin was less about racing and more about survival. These were by far the most atrocious racing conditions I've experienced. Seeing 100% chance of rain in the forecast Friday with a high of 43 was certainly discouraging, but this race has been a staple for me the past couple seasons, so I stuffed my bag with winter clothes and rain gear and hit the road. Once the Pike hit points west I began seeing snow flurries then a light coating on the ground. When I arrived in the snow-covered parking lot it felt more like late 'cross season, not early road season (did it even snow last cx season?) Then I remember Quabbin '09 when it was so hot people were dehydrated. Ha!

In the porta-john line two guys are discussing how this was the worst decision they'd ever made. How hopeful! Kitting up was hard: Dress light and freeze, wear layers and get soaked, heavy and frozen. I went with the latter which included tights, l/s base layer, l/s jersey, wool socks, booties, foot packet heat things, winter cap, two pairs of light gloves, and rain cape. My warm-up consisted of sitting in the car with heat on high. At staging I looked around at what appeared to be a field of around 50. 65 had signed up on Bikereg. To be sleeping with the comforts of home, those buggers. My gloves were already soaked.

The descent out of the park was cold and wet. We hit Rt. 9 and I started seeing riders on the opposite side of the road abandoning from other fields. Wise or weak? We're descending on the slick road, everyone nervous, then BOOM! guy hits the deck to the right of me ejecting the rider on his wheel over his handle bars. I missed the carnage. Early on I was just happy sitting in and ignoring the action up front. My goal was to simply finish in one piece, preferably with the field. A small group got away on one of the earlier climbs. I think the peloton had the same idea as me because no one chased or worked too hard to close the gap. They were out of sight till about 30 miles in when we saw them at the top of a long climb. The breakaway was within reach and a few riders bridged up but the rest of the pack, including myself, was content sitting in and surviving. We were down to around 25 guys now. At some point I went to the front to test out my legs and pulled the field up a climb or two. I felt pretty good and tucked back in to conserve for the final hilly miles. The climbs were better than the descents because it gave your body a chance to heat up. The second you let a chill hit you the cold set in hard. So I made sure to work on the climbs.

Hitting Rt. 9 again was welcoming. I forgot how hilly the miles preceding the park entrance were though. I slammed my 4th CliffShot (eating was no easy task but I think it saved me) and moved to the front at the park entrance. A strong rider in a blue kit who had worked up front all day took off. A Threshold rider followed. I let them go figuring they’d fade. It’s 5 k, and mostly up. We kept them in sight and the Threshold guy popped around 200 m. He actually got in my way and I had toslow up to get around him to the right. There were about 5 of us scatted around the road here and guys were kicking. I probably should have geared down because my sprint felt sluggish. Slipped in at 12th. Missed the money by two spots. Simply finishing this race was a victory in itself though. Congrats to everyone who finished, esp. Smudger’s impressive ride. Let’s hope the weather at Blue Hills is kinder.

[taudep]

Nice job PJ, 12th and surviving in those conditions!