Tri-State Velo

My apologies for not posting this sooner. But this report is from TSV Cat. 2 racer Justin Woulfe on his recent efforts at the infamous Fitchburg Longjo Race. It should be noted that former TSV junior / espoir standout, Kyle Wamsley, won the Pro / 1 event riding for Colavita / Sutter Home. Enjoy.

Justin Woulfe
Engineering LDP
Lockheed Martin IS&GS
Date: 7/3/2008 7:19 PM

Day 1- Time Trial

The opening time trial was a 10 km uphill battle that I found to be incredibly hard. This was a different course then in years past that averaged about a 7% grade. I was weaving all over the road trying to avoid the wheel eating potholes, and keeping my head up, focusing on the riders in front of me. I managed to catch two riders and seemed to be pretty far in front of the riders behind me, so I was pretty confident that I had posted a good time. This was more of an illusion then anything though, as I must have been surrounded by the slowest people.
My time was good enough for only 49 (out of 120)...There really isn't much else to say about this one. As I got close to the top, I was damn near passing out, dizzy, and seeing stars. Uphill Time Trials are not designed for 190 lb riders.

Day 2 - Wachusett Mt Road Race

This course is probably my favorite course I have ever ridden (except for the finishing climb). The 12 mile loop consisted of a fairly flat section from the start which led into about 800 feet of climbing per lap. This was followed by a wicked fast descent (more on this later)
The pace was pretty lethargic, and the group barely pushed 20 mph. If I had more riders working with me, I would have preferred to string it out a bit and try to wear out the pure climbers on the 7 miles of flats each lap. Nevertheless, I was able to capture a few KOM points, finishing third at the top of the 800 feet of climbing on laps 2 and 5. On the last time down the descent, I was up front (having just finished 3rd in the KOM) and bombed it back down the hill. I love descending. It took me back to my days at VMI when I would climb a couple thousand feet every day just to be able to turn around and go 60 mph down the hill. Unlike most of the riders in the field i am very comfortable at high speed descents. At the bottom of the hill, the cop clocked me at 67 mph. One good thing about being heavy is that I have lots of inertia!
The race ended with a climb up Wachusett which really wasn't exciting.
It featured me grunting and groaning and somehow finishing in the top half of the field (how I can beat a 140 lb rider I will never know)

Day 3- Fitchburg Circuit Race

This race was very exciting and very fast. We covered the 28 miles in just over an hour, averaging 27 which was really fast considering the Manayunk Wall-esque climb that led to the finish. This climb was brutal.
Again, I wish I had some team mates who could have taken control of the race away from the climbers, and punished them during the flat/downhill sections so they couldn't ride so fast up that damn hill. I finished well though, around 30th, mostly due to my ability to chop the little riders in corners.

Day 4- Fitchburg Criterium

Best race of the 4! This promised to be my strongest event, a fast, technical crit with a slight uphill to the finish. I knew I could ride away from the current race leaders as they were all juniors riding 53x15, which is fine in an uphill race, but pretty small for a criterium. I was sitting top 10 the entire race and was really comfortable, and with 10 to go, I made my move to capture some sprint points and go off the front. As a rounded the first 90 degree turn, the race leader, a fast Aussie, got a little loose, (probably in one of the many potholes in the
corner) and came flying across the corner into me, pushing me headfirst into the hay bales at 30 mph. The sudden impact, shattered my glasses, blew my front wheel, bent my crank and frame, and gave me some nasty cuts that started bleeding all over the place. I ran to pits and got a wheel, straightened my handlebars, and got back in the race. However, I didn't have a rear brake, had blood in my eyes, and the bent crank kept me from sprinting very hard. I settled in and finished in the pack.
Pretty disappointed as I really feel that I could have won this race.
Not only that, but winning would have moved me up about 15 places in the GC into the top 30…In the end I finished 44th out of 120 that started.

Justin Woulfe
Engineering LDP
Lockheed Martin IS&GS
Date: 7/3/2008 7:19 PM