The RowManians celebrated our countries Independence Day weekend by exercising our freedom to ride. What better way to experience the freedom we enjoy then by jumping on your bike and hurling yourself down the road/trail.
First up was the Barbour DeTour, the 4th and final race in the WV Road Race Series. It was a nice day for a bike race with low humidity and sunny sky's. It was a purty early start with the flag dropping at 10am. Steve and I didn't get to Philippi till after 9am so that didn't leave much time to screw around. Nate got there a bit earlier but not by much. After filling out some paper work and gearing up there was only about 15-20min left for a warm-up. Not optimal but oh well the first climb out of town would be a good warm-up as long as we didn't get dropped.
Steve rolled out with the 1/2/3's right at 10am. I was coming the other way as they rolled out and noticed Steve was already in the front doing work as always..........That boy will never learn. I got back to the start line within seconds of the roll out. For those that haven't road the DeTour before, it is a rollie, ~30miler (~50mi for 1/2/3) with the largest climb starting 1mi after the start. The pace was moderate going up the first hill but not enough to cause much of a split in the group. I stayed around 5th wheel right behind Nate in case there was anybody who thought they would try and get away. No one did. The course got rollie after that with a few guys trying put in some attacks. I went out on a couple with no hope of getting way. Just wanted to stretch the legs and push it a little since it was such a short race. Not much happened till the group made the turn back towards Philippi. Then you could feel the group starting to get twitchy for the run in to the finish. I put in a hard effort after one of the rollers hoping to get a small break. I got a good gap but then I realized I was nowhere near as close to the finish as I thought. So, I shut it down and went back to the group. BoneHead!
Not long after, it was time for the exciting finish which goes down the same starting hill into town and then takes a 90 degree right off of Main then a 90 degree left onto a side street then about 50 meter sprint to the line. It was a fast decent into town with lots of riders jockeying for good position for the turns. I got onto Robbie and Nate's wheel on the inside cause I knew these guys had the finish dialed in. Robbie launched a lot further than I expected and I lost their wheels by a bit but was still 3rd going into the turns. First turn went well, still in 3rd, second turn I got a little wide and had to back off a bit and lost some momentum. Robbie and Nate got away and I lost two more spots as I tried to get back up to speed. I definitely need more work on my sprinting technique. I still came across the line 5th although the results say 6th (no camera, just pen and paper). Nate got 1st (2nd year in a row) and Robbie got 2nd. Nice job boys. Thanks for the ride in. Wish I could have kept it going.
Then it was time to wait for the 1/2/3's to come through after their second lap. About an hour later the first guys came through. A Cat guy got the win with Adam A. right behind him getting 2nd. A couple minutes back was Steve's group. Steve came around the turn right behind Gunnar but lost one spot in the sprint. Still a 5th is damn good in the big boy race. Good work Steve.
The RowManians also collected some swag and bling for placing in the overall road series (Steve 3rd in 1/2/3, Nate 2nd 4/5, Josh 3rd 4/5). Very cool. Thanks J.R. for putting on an excellent series, I had a great time. Only wish there were a few more races to go. Maybe next year?
After the race we retreated back to Motown for a cookout at the Chappy homestead where we had some recovery burgers and beers and were treated to a fireworks show by Sean Z.
On Sunday the brothers Row headed back down to Philippi without the Man for WVMBA #5, Race to lil Moe's. So I don't have much to report yet just some solid results. Hopefully Steve will fill in the blanks. Jeremy got a 2nd behind Gunnar and Steve got a 3rd. Steve was look'n to take ol' Gunny so he could collect on the overall weekend price but alas the old man was just too wiley. Great work dudes. Still 1,2 in the series.
I can't wait to get back on the mountain bike the next 2 weekends at the WV State Championship in Davis and then Valley Falls
in Fairmont. Both challenging races. I think the Davis race just could be my favorite. It's got it all and plenty of it for everyone.
See ya at the races,
Josh
First up was the Barbour DeTour, the 4th and final race in the WV Road Race Series. It was a nice day for a bike race with low humidity and sunny sky's. It was a purty early start with the flag dropping at 10am. Steve and I didn't get to Philippi till after 9am so that didn't leave much time to screw around. Nate got there a bit earlier but not by much. After filling out some paper work and gearing up there was only about 15-20min left for a warm-up. Not optimal but oh well the first climb out of town would be a good warm-up as long as we didn't get dropped.
Steve rolled out with the 1/2/3's right at 10am. I was coming the other way as they rolled out and noticed Steve was already in the front doing work as always..........That boy will never learn. I got back to the start line within seconds of the roll out. For those that haven't road the DeTour before, it is a rollie, ~30miler (~50mi for 1/2/3) with the largest climb starting 1mi after the start. The pace was moderate going up the first hill but not enough to cause much of a split in the group. I stayed around 5th wheel right behind Nate in case there was anybody who thought they would try and get away. No one did. The course got rollie after that with a few guys trying put in some attacks. I went out on a couple with no hope of getting way. Just wanted to stretch the legs and push it a little since it was such a short race. Not much happened till the group made the turn back towards Philippi. Then you could feel the group starting to get twitchy for the run in to the finish. I put in a hard effort after one of the rollers hoping to get a small break. I got a good gap but then I realized I was nowhere near as close to the finish as I thought. So, I shut it down and went back to the group. BoneHead!
Not long after, it was time for the exciting finish which goes down the same starting hill into town and then takes a 90 degree right off of Main then a 90 degree left onto a side street then about 50 meter sprint to the line. It was a fast decent into town with lots of riders jockeying for good position for the turns. I got onto Robbie and Nate's wheel on the inside cause I knew these guys had the finish dialed in. Robbie launched a lot further than I expected and I lost their wheels by a bit but was still 3rd going into the turns. First turn went well, still in 3rd, second turn I got a little wide and had to back off a bit and lost some momentum. Robbie and Nate got away and I lost two more spots as I tried to get back up to speed. I definitely need more work on my sprinting technique. I still came across the line 5th although the results say 6th (no camera, just pen and paper). Nate got 1st (2nd year in a row) and Robbie got 2nd. Nice job boys. Thanks for the ride in. Wish I could have kept it going.
Then it was time to wait for the 1/2/3's to come through after their second lap. About an hour later the first guys came through. A Cat guy got the win with Adam A. right behind him getting 2nd. A couple minutes back was Steve's group. Steve came around the turn right behind Gunnar but lost one spot in the sprint. Still a 5th is damn good in the big boy race. Good work Steve.
The RowManians also collected some swag and bling for placing in the overall road series (Steve 3rd in 1/2/3, Nate 2nd 4/5, Josh 3rd 4/5). Very cool. Thanks J.R. for putting on an excellent series, I had a great time. Only wish there were a few more races to go. Maybe next year?
After the race we retreated back to Motown for a cookout at the Chappy homestead where we had some recovery burgers and beers and were treated to a fireworks show by Sean Z.
On Sunday the brothers Row headed back down to Philippi without the Man for WVMBA #5, Race to lil Moe's. So I don't have much to report yet just some solid results. Hopefully Steve will fill in the blanks. Jeremy got a 2nd behind Gunnar and Steve got a 3rd. Steve was look'n to take ol' Gunny so he could collect on the overall weekend price but alas the old man was just too wiley. Great work dudes. Still 1,2 in the series.
I can't wait to get back on the mountain bike the next 2 weekends at the WV State Championship in Davis and then Valley Falls
in Fairmont. Both challenging races. I think the Davis race just could be my favorite. It's got it all and plenty of it for everyone.See ya at the races,
Josh
Josh! Photos!
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