June 11, 2008 - 3 Wins

The Fiordifrutta boys have been on a roll with 3 wins in the last two week. The winner of the races writes the below race reports and you can see the finish line photos from the Mystic Velo Crit and the Auburn Road Race. Follow the squad over the next few days as they race the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minneasota.

Driscoll-Dillon 1-2 at Balloon Festival Classic, June 7th

There are few races where we Vermonters can reasonably sleep in our own bed the night before races, so even for a 9:30 start we took advantage of that luxury. It was a hot one, 70 degrees by 5:30. The crew of Lipka, Cory, Alister, Dillon and I kitted up and headed over to the start of the Balloon Fest RR (which is a town-wide event, lacking only balloons oddly enough).

An early break established with Cory in there for us. This was an enormous help as it took all the pressure off us until the break was reeled in, which was nearly the rest of the race. This proved to be a challenging course, and when you combine the heat and flats, there were only about 15 riders left in the main pack. Our strategy was to relentlessly attack the group since we had the upper hand with four riders in that group. Though we could not make anything stick, it certainly softened the legs of the remaining riders.

A little bit before the last steep climb of the day, I tried to take a flyer, and as Dillon later pointed out, it was a perfect place to go because everyone wants to start that climb well rested. A group of four containing Dillon was in hot pursuit up the climb, but a small dip before the main descent made for just enough hesitation by the chasers to keep my gap alive.

Then it was a 5 mile drag race into a stiff head wind between me and the three chasers while Dillon got a free tow. With about 3 miles to go I notice that Dillon had separated himself from the chasers with a sizeable gap. This was terrific, as I was looking for any excuse to stop the pain I was inflicting on myself.

I decided to wait up for my teammate and come in to town for the only kind of win that has more style than a solo victory, two teammates going across the line together. Lipka rode very strong as usual to come in 6th, and Alister came in 9th. Cory rolled in after putting in arguably the hardest day for the team. Many thanks to our feeders out there; being properly hydrated on a day like this is critical to the success of the team.

Gaimon Wins Mystic Velo Criterium, June 7th

Matt, Steve, Hayden, Toby, and I headed to Rhode Island for the Mystic Velo Crit today. It was an open, pancake-flat course with no sharp turns. A decent local field attended, including Mahk McCormack and Anthony Colby (Colavita). The course didn’t favor a breakaway, but we knew that that was the only way to use our advantage in numbers, so we decided to be attentive for early moves, and make sure we had numbers in all of them.

About ten minutes in, Anthony Colby made the first big attack, and Toby went with him. Matt soon joined to make it two out of six. The field was disorganized so the gap went quickly. When the gap was around 30 seconds, I covered a bridge attempt, and he got us well clear of the field and then cracked, so I took the opportunity to bridge before the break got too far away. The next five minutes felt like an eternity, but Toby and Matt stopped working when they saw me coming, and I finally made it across.

I sat on a good bit as the break rolled, with Toby and Matt picking up my slack, and for awhile it started to look like we might lap the field. On one part of the course, the field was visible across a stretch of grass, and our teamwork really showed, as Hayden and Steve were always near the front or controlling a doomed bridge attempt.

With 20 laps to go, the hostilities began. It was clear that the winner would be whichever Fiordifrutta rider ended up off the front with Anthony Colby, who clearly had good legs and motivation. Whitey covered the first attack, and Toby went with the second. When Colby went, I hung on, and one rider bridged up to us. Soon, the break was split into two groups of three, with me in the front and Toby and Matt in the first chase group.

As long as they stayed clear of the field, I had an excuse not to work in the front group, and they could say the same with me up the road. It worked out well, as I had enough plenty of gas to sprint for the win, and Toby stuck it for 4th after Whitey finally cracked from his monster pulls. To further cement our team domination (and to bolster the prize split), Steve and Hayden went 1-2 in the field sprint, giving the team 1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th at the finish.

Driscoll Wins Lake Auburn Road Race, May 31

The northern frutts gathered Friday evening to make half the drive of their racing adventures for the weekend. In classy fashion, we arrive just in time for the high noon start of the Lake Auburn RR. With a quick race meeting we were off to what most people would call a miserable day. Knee warmers graced most of the field and puddles still remained from the morning showers with more precipitation likely to fall.

It was my first race back since Mt Hood, where racing with the pros was very calculated, whereas good old New England racing is anything but. We were not very active until about half way through the race where yours truly and Josh Dillon tried a 1-2 punch, and though we got an initial gap, the pack proved to be more fresh than we had hoped.

The winning move came at a much less eventful point in the race where there were a few people dangling off the front. Consequently, I bridged up to them as sleepily as possible. It was the one time I wasn't marked, so I decided to do all the work to get out of sight and hopefully out of mind. Once that was accomplished, I let my two compatriots do some of the work.

Shortly afterwards, we hit the first of two walls and I was getting jumpy and decided to try this on my own, about 23 miles to go. In classic New England style, I got no time gaps, so I had to resort to the few long straight-aways to see if the pack was within a minute of me. Plus, I had the added assurance that Steve, Roz, Alister and Josh were marking everything that tried to chase me down. It wasn't until the last mile that I knew for sure I had the win and my gap was a minute and a half!