June 10, 2004 - Win for Hamblen

Hamblen Wins Lake Auburn Road Race, June 5

Auburn, Maine - The Fiordifrutta team lined up with seven riders for this short but difficult road race with Pete and Rob Hult, Dan Cassidy, Phil Wong, Josh Gewirtz, Mike Dietrich, and Jon Hamblen. The team was ready to battle on the streets of greater Auburn and defend Don Mills’s honor as the King of All Maine Racing, although Donny couldn't make it to the race due to work. At the team’s pre-race meeting the decision was made to attack early and often in an attempt to soften up the field. The course suited this aggressive type of riding due to its many short but steep climbs, lack of flat ground, and relatively short 66 mile length.

The boys started the first of six laps with a barrage of attacks, which though only half hearted, did their job of spoiling some fresh legs in the field. Near the end of the lap a group of about ten riders formed off the front, it included Phil Wong, Rob Hult, Dan Cassidy, and Jon Hamblen. The Fiordifrutta squad was put in charge of the pulling by the other teams who were not yet interested in riding away from the field, so the boys started to attack the break to avoid being stuck with all the work. Phil Wong countered moves by Cassidy, Hult, and Hamblen, riding off solo to a 1'30 gap. The chase group grew in size over the next lap and a half to become a large twenty man pack, including two more Fiordifrutta riders, Pete Hult and Josh Gewirtz. Meanwhile, Mike Dietrich corralled the main pack a few minutes in arrears of the leaders.

Near the end of the third lap, Pete Hult launched a viscous attack and was followed by Trek's Nat Faulkner who was followed by Jon. The three rode just ahead of the field for several miles until Pete suddenly came up with a very funny new joke and decided to slow down and wait for his brother so he could share the humor with him. Jon continued on and caught up with Phil then the two FDF boys dropped Nat on a hill. A bit later, Phil too came up with a great joke but, because Hamblen was constantly out of breath and not looking interested, Phil decided to wait for the group.

Meanwhile, in the main field, Dietrich launched off and bridged to the break-eton. This became the main group on the road and included all of the Fiordifrutta team riders, minus one. Hamblen continued to ride hard off the front, fueled by a fear of being caught, due to the incorrect time splits he was receiving. The main group spent the remainder of the race attacking and counter attacking each other until finally a small group with Dietrich, P. Hult, and a few others got away. Jon rode in for the win and 8 minutes later Mike sprinted to a 3rd place finish, while Dan and Pete rolled in for 6th and 7th.