tuna report (Andy)

As a Cat 3 debut race Id say the International Tour de Toona went decently. Fridays circuit race of 50 miles was in torrential downpours and on rolling terrain. For those who road race this equates to 150 riders traveling at 30+ mph 4 to 6 inches from the wheel in front and to the sides... with limited to no visibility. To say the least it was a clusterfuck...6 wrecks. the first 4 were merely poor handling skills on the part of the victims, the last 2 were more interesting. Take the above equation of "150 riders traveling at 30+ mph 4 to 6 inches from the wheel in front and to the sides... with limited to no visibility" then take this mass and throw it onto a crit course for the last mile of the race = within a quarter mile of the finish at least 10-15 more people went down...Outrageous. Anyway I was usually somewhere in the vicinity of these debacles and finished a rude 41st of 150, holding the same time as the top finishers.

Saturdays road race was the greatest race of the year. With 3 mountain climbs over 80 miles it was a course to suit my strengths. The pace was fast for the morning and the group stayed together until the first climb up Blue Knob (some points reaching as steep as 17% grade) At this point the pack blew to pieces. I hit the base of the knob sitting mid-pack in about 50th position. Upon reaching the KOM summit I was 15th. It felt good to be one of the better climbers at the race. Upon cresting the summit I realized I had paced about 10 guys up the mountain with me, all strung out single file off my wheel. I held with them on the decent and we worked together over the rest of the race to put as much time on the breakaway as possible. the group blew to pieces over the next 2 mountains but still managed to stay together, with the occasional pace line of 3-4 guys to chase back 3-4 guys who thought they could get away. With 5K to the finish I attacked my group up a short hill with the hopes of maintaining and sprinting to 13th place...yes I know, why sprint for 13?....cause its better than 17th asshole!!! Needless to say I was caught on the decent of the hill 200 meters from the finish and managed a rude 17th place. To put things in perspective, over an 80 mile course with 3 mountain climbs of about 5 miles each the race pace still managed to sustain an average 22mph, Mountain Scum would have been dropped harder than the suspension on this Hummer


The Crit on Sunday was a God awful mess. The race organizers started the Cat 4 race 10 minutes late. Once I saw the 4s finish I jumped on the course and began to roll towards the start line. Upon rounding the last turn, mind you the course had been open maybe 45 seconds and was still choked with riders from the previous race, I was 150 meters from the start and heard a gun go off. I look up to see my race taking off 150 meters infront of me. Instinct kicked in and I began to chase with balls to the wall. After chasing well above LT for 4-5 laps I managed to tag the back end of the peloton and take a breather. When I look up again I notice the back end of the peloton had allowed a gap to open from rest of the group, a gap which I then attempted to close for another 2 laps as riders continued to peel from the blistering pace. By lap 8 I was closing the gap when my body decided that 20 minutes at way above LT wasn't good for my GI system. As far as facial expressions im sure the proceeding incident resembled this
By lap 9 I couldn't see and was forced to abandon the crit, watching the group slip away through the streets of Altoona. Needless to say the race organizers heard it from myself and 15-20 other folks who missed the start. YOU DO NOT STAGE A RACE FOR 45 SECONDS!!! FUCK!

So thats Toona, a disappointing showing for a first race, but I hear Toona is the best of the best in each category and brings riders from all over the US. To test my skills Ive entered the 3sports Endure circuit race in Richmond for this Sunday...not standing for less than a run for the money, I decided to enter the Pro,1,2,3 race rather than the 3,4 race. T-time 6 days