This weekend was Hilltowns and Norwell, both great races. Hilltowns has a killer 4 mile hill half way through which pretty much determines the macro order of the race. I'd done the Mt. Ascutney Hillclimb the week before and that was a great thing. It's the same length as Holly Hill Rd. but a lot steeper. In any case, after a long 20 mile descent, we hit Holly Hill. I was a bit farther back in the pack than I should have been and had to use the hill to work my way to the front of the pack. Unfortunately, 5 guys got away on the hill. I should have been at the front, as I had the legs to go with those guys. The next phase of the race was a another long descent which was fast as we wanted to keep our group of about 20 small or even smaller. On the 12 mile finishing hill, there were numerous abortive attacks but we all arrived at the top at once. I tried to stay on Karl Hambrecht's wheel for the sprint, but got cut off on the 180 degree turn to the sprint. 19th - wish I could sprint better.
Norwell, as Josef reports, is a great course. It's a very smooth, fast, 2 mile loop with a short power hill to the finish. We did 11 laps. Peter Megdal and a Tean Psycho guy got away. Jody and Brett did too much work early and got a bit fried. I figured Gearworks would chase them down, as they has 6 or 7 guys, including Curley and Stevens. They didn't. It came down to a sprint which suited me in this case as it was uphill. I was just 2-3 wheels too far back at the turn, and got a bit tangled with Brett who was cooked and slowing on the hill, but got 9th. Brett and Jody were just behind me.
BTW, while there was no women's field, Cathy Rowell rode with us, finished 26th and said she had a great time. So that is always an option, ride with us old men.
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