Mossman Podium

Mini mossman pics

MINI MOSSMAN TRIATHLON

As told by Ryan and Kieran..

Kieran and I showed up at the mini Mossman for this kids triathlon which is probably the best organized kids tri in Ct if not NE. There were about 90 kids signed up for the wave of 7-10 years olds…. All vying a spot for the “champions” wave at the tough kids triathlon in Sep.

100 yard open water swim

2 mile road bike

½ mile run

I asked him what his strategy was—“ to win” he told me.. hey that’s a good strategy

Kieran- Swim:

I was trying to get to the front of the group of kids but they kept moving and I couldn’t squeeze through them and the official kept moving the start line.. I was nervous because I was concerned I would not do well and I was racing against 9-10 years olds and I am only 8… I was nervous about my swim because it is my worst part of a triathlon. After the wave started I had to alternate running and swimming trying to get through the shallow water and through the people. I think I was the 13^th or 14 th kid out of the swim…

I than ran as fast as I could to transition and caught a  lot of people who were slower than me in transition. I had a little hard time with my shoes tongue but got it on and left transition for the bike and was in a out 7^th-8^th place..

Bike- I caught lots of people on the bike. I almost crashed because of a sharp turn I did too quickly. I recovered and caught up to the leader and passed her and another kid was drafting me.  We worked real hard and tried to sprint past each other but came into transition together in 1^st and 2^nd place.

Run- We both did a quick transition and I quickly fell in behind the kid who was bigger than me and started drafting him. We ran as hard as we could the entire ½ mile and I tried to sprint by him at the end and got a little ahead but than he passed me and beat me by less than one second.

I finished 2^nd and got a slot for toughman… I think I could have run harder and will try to wear him down there….dad is working with me on run tactics.. It was great and I had a good time

Ryan: it was awesome watching these two competitive kids duel it out on the run. I am very proud of Kierans drive and both of the kids sportsmanship.. they shook hands and than went and sat on the swingset.. 

Le Coupe des Ameriques

Bienvenue la meilleure course pour maitres en Ameriques.  Mike Andrews and I represented the Cycle Fitness / Carquest team this past weekend in the Coupe, billed as the North American Masters Championships. 4 events in 3 days in and around Sutton, Quebec.

We stayed at Mike's amazing house at Jay Peak, just across the border from Canada, and only about 20-30 minutes from Sutton.  When we weren't racing, we hung out on the deck, ate, and tried to get some rest.  Here's the view from his deck looking north to Quebec.

This race is well-organize from start to finish all the way down to the mobile porta-johns which are moved from staging area to staging area.

I would show you a picture of the yellow line, but we learned that in Quebec, the yellow line is irrelevant.  In fact, on a 55mph descent I got passed by guys on the other side of the white line all the way on the left side of the road.

Stage 1: An uphill prologue which climbs to the base of the ski area. I had a good prologue last year, and was hoping for a repeat, but it was not to be.  I starting blowing with about 1-2 k to go, and had to back off.  I thought of the Jens Voigt line - something like legs do what I say.  Didn't work.  I was pretty dejected after that ride, and Mike had me on suicide watch.  Mike had a pretty good ride though.  He came flying by me with a little more than 500m to go, and there was nothing I could do to stay with him.  Carl Reglar won the stage in style with a gutsy move practically from the gun.

Stage 2: TT - Another disappointing stage for me.  Mike put in a respectable TT though, and a huge improvement over last year.

Stage 3: Hilly Circuit Race - At some point during this stage, my legs came back to me.  3 laps with about 500' of climbing on each lap and a screaming 55 mph descent.  Mike was working hard at the front, and trying to get away.  On the last lap, he was in a pretty good move with Roger Aspholm and Jonathan Card, but it didn't last too long.  However, the efforts led to the field getting split, and we came into the finish with only 30 or so guys.  Coming into the finish, I felt like I had good legs.  Mike did his thing - went to the front and strung out the field.  With about 200 meters to go Troy Kimball jumped and I went after him.  I tried to get around him for the win, but didn't make it.  I was psyched to grab 2nd and get on the podium.  In fact, this was an all American podium with David Hildebrand, another CT guy in 3rd.

Stage 4:  The classic 90k road race - this stage is a big deal to the Canadians.  The conventional strategy is to sit in, conserve, and wait for the selection to be made going over Scenic before the run into the finish.  Mike and I decided we were going to be aggressive and make Westwood work.  We also figured 2 minutes on GC could be made up if they let us go.  As it turned out the Expo guys had a similar plan.  David attacked repeatedly early on, forcing Andreas, Troy and Roger to work at the front.  Then I went.  Steve Proulx bridged up to me, which was the kiss of death as he was sitting high on GC.  As soon as we were brought back, Mike countered with Todd Bowden and a Canadian dude.  Andreas and Troy put in some serious time on the front to bring them back.  Oh well.  Now, recover for the climb.  As we approached the climb, I worked hard to get really good position at the front of the field, and I would have held it but for the complete irrelevance of the yellow line. The field took over the entire road - gutter to gutter.  I felt pretty good on the climb, and made the selection over the top. We had about 15 guys, and I was pumped to see the 5k to go sign.  I had good legs and knew I could make a run at the finish, especially since it was uphill for 500m + to the line. As we came into Town (1k to go), a group of about 10 guys, including Mike caught back. Just as the road tilted up to the finish, an attack went early, and then Roger and a Canadian guy jumped with about 400m to go and held it for 1st and 2nd.  I jumped hard with about 250-300m to go and gave it everything I had to take 3rd.  Here's the podium shot:

Mike finished 11 on the stage and 15th on GC!  We raced our bikes!

Mike and I then took our prize money to Town - stinky cheese, double espressos, pastries (the croissant with white chocolate and berries was unbelievable) and gifts for the girls.

Highs and lows of bike racing experienced this past weekend.  It didn't go according to plan, but we "adjusted," raced our bikes, and walked away with podium spots in both road races and Mike's very respectable 15th on GC.

-Monte