July 23, 2004 - Hamblen Wins Clam Fest

Hamblen Wins Yarmouth Clam Festival Race, July 18th

For most New England bike racers this is the highlight of the summer. The town of Yarmouth, Maine, has put on the best bike race this side of the Atlantic for the past nineteen years. Run in conjunction with the Clam Festival the race attracts a large crowd of spectators and a full field of Pro and amateur racers, making for an exiting event. The race was fast from the start as riders tried to escape the field and pick up the primes that are available on each one of the race’s ten laps. On several laps breaks hovered just off the front of the field but were caught after the finish line every time as riders slowed following the sprint

With three and a half laps to go Phil Wong was up the road in a move with Jon Page (Hot Tubes) and several others, and then Hamblen and Matt Svatek (Sharper Image – Mathis Brothers) bridged across. The group had twenty seconds on the field and looked good until most of the riders started sitting on going into the prime sprint. At that time Page and Hamblen took off while Wong sat up and took the group backwards. Over the next three laps the two former teammates worked extremely hard to hold their thirty second gap over the field, Page thinking about the money needed for his soon to be born baby and Hamblen about his upcoming wedding. In the end Page eased up before the line to let Jon Hamblen take his fourth Clam Fest win.