April 9, 2008 - First Win of the Year

Fiordifrutta dominated the traditional New England season opener, by taking the win in Marblehead, MA. New team addition Eric Schildge wrote the following report and you should also check out a great article on Velonews.com with pictures.

Schildge Wins Marblehead Season Opener, March 30th

Fiordifrutta arrived at the start line of the Michael Schott Memorial Circuit Race (Marblehead), with a strong team of eight riders. Representing the team was Josh Dillon, Josh Lipka, Matt White, Toby Marzot, Jamey Driscoll, Chris Rozdilsky, Will Riffelmacher, and me. After a quick pre-race meeting, we headed over to the start. The temperature and winds made for a frigid start, and we were all bundled up tight; with the exception of Lipka who was after a suntan in shorts and a jersey.

As expected, the racing started fast. Will was active near the front in the beginning of the race, keeping an eye on the action and making sure things stayed under control for the first half of the race. Towards the middle of the race, Toby, Josh Lipka and I moved to the front and tried our hands at a break. Toby was the first, getting into a number of small moves and staying alert when each one was caught. After a flurry of attacks, Josh and I went for broke with one gigantic attack. I attacked, but the ferocious pace of Lipka's acceleration as he came around was too much for me. He continued to power away as I fell back into the field, humbled before his awesome display of power.

Meanwhile, Lipka had established a lead of 30-40 seconds, which he maintained for the next third of the race. It took an all-out effort from every team in the race to bring him back. As the other teams struggled to reel him in, Jamey, Toby, and Chris were busy patrolling the front and marking moves from the field. When he was finally reeled in it became clear that the race was headed for a field sprint, and it was time for me to make my contribution. I was decided that Dillon would shepherd me through the last five laps, staying near the front and keeping me out of the wind. I couldn't have asked for a better wheel to follow, we weaved through the field and in the final lap, lo and behold, Josh Lipka returned to the front to give an epic pull. As other teams struggled to make their way to the front, I sat comfortably tucked in behind the Josh's with Matt sweeping any cherry-pickers off my wheel.

After the final corner, there was a flurry of attacks, as the McCormack's launched up the left side, and CCB led out their train to the right. Caught in the middle, about ten riders back, I came around Josh D., took advantage of a quick acceleration from Matt, and weaved through a small hole on the right. I opened up the sprint down the gutter and took it at the line. A great way to start the season for Fiordifrutta!