2009 Early Bird Road Race

Hey DBC Masters...
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What can you say? .... Nuff said!
Way to go Lee.

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Results from the Earl Bird Patterson Pass Road Race...

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Masters ... 45+ 4/5
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This is just the top Ten...
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1. 747 "LEE MILLON 254073 DAVIS BIKE CLUB"
2. 791 Richard Gelsi-Medeot 225191 Unattached
3. 773 Randy Floyd 90079 Unattached
4. 787 John Wagnon 266614 Liquid Fitness/Adageo Energy Reno
5. 783 Russell Voss 258026 Now Direct
6. 777 Scott Martin 22722 Team Bicycle Trip
7. 781 Jerome Heiberger 15679 SERT/Sho-Air
8. 776 Doug Houston 269927 Victory Velo/ProActive Personal Training
9. 770 marc hamlin 275127 Pacific State Bank Cycling Team
10. 780 James Torrence 55200 Unattached
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(Lee's Race Report below)
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Pretty big turnout; I think close to 40 in my category! Wet roads, loaded with gravel and some mud. Sun came out but rain threatened for most of the day. Rollers and false flats with uphill trend for the first 20 miles then it ramps into a fairly steep climb. I got dropped from front group during the climb. got passed by several racers on the descent. I tried to latch on but got dropped there too.

Finally back on the false flats and joined 8 or so guys to chase. It took a while for the group to work smoothly but eventually reeled in a rider here and a rider there who were dropped by the strong break of 6 or 7 riders. Kept an eye on the computer and noted to our chase group that we still have over 10 miles to go. Plenty of room to chase. About 7 miles to go we caught a glimpse of the front group. A couple of guys got excited and started hammering but eventually our chase group resumed working together. I think the break saw us too. We seem to stop gaining. Our chase ramps up and after a few rollers we were clearly gaining ground. Funny because once it became clear that we had a strong potential to catch them, our chase group stopped working together! A few shouts and yells from several motivated chasers did no good. Finally 3 or 4 of us put our heads down and committed to bridge. Within a few minutes we caught them. There are now about a dozen of us.

The original break was visibly deflated at having been caught. Everyone relaxes for a moment start to drink, eat and even chat with each other. I look at my computer and I calculate less than a mile to the finish! At about the same time someone yells "There's Highway 5!" I look up and ahead I see a roller with a bunch of people at the top -- THE FINISH! We caught the break with less than a mile to go! Everyone started jockeying for position with people seemingly refusing to take a pull and content to set up some sort of sprint. I finished off my 2nd bottle and was feeling good so I decide to go early. Quick look and no one latched on! I see the Velo Promo 200 meter sign and redlined it. I see a bunch of people standing around yelling but all I hear is my labored gasps for air then I saw a white line on the road. While checking results on our way out several guys came up to congratulate me and one of them said "Ballsy move dude, you went way early!".
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Hmmm, I'll have to remember not to do that again... ;-D.
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Lee

PS: It was great to recognize some of the faces from last season and say HEY to those we race with or against. Met some great guys and hope to see them again.