Oxford road race report, 2011

It is good to have the road races back in Lancaster. I really liked Rich's series the first summer I raced in 2009. Fulton was my first Cat 4 race, and I did Oxford and Mt. Nebo as well. I was quite disappointed to hear they had lost their USACycling license for 2010. The courses were very good, the racing fun, the distances better (40 miles instead of the usual 25 for 4/5 race), and Lancaster county is just plain beautiful.



(Photos from 2009, as I haven't found any from 2011. Anyone know of any galleries?)



Two years ago, we got hit with a brief torrential downpour, and John Cutler soloed away for the win.





Oversized helmet? Check. Baggy Nashbar jersey? Check. Commuter pedals and walking shoes? Check.



It poured.



I dropped my chain on the last climb, couldn't chase back on, and finished 20th.

Fast forward 2 years to 2011. I wanted a good result here, but mostly I was looking forward to getting back to some good road racing. Especially after a week of solid rain, and when Saturday looked perfectly clear, I was just glad to be out in the sun again.

Roland and I left early to make the two hour trip down to Lancaster county for our race at 8:45 am. We made good time, and got there with plenty of time to get ready, and check out the finish.

The final turn certainly looked bad, it came after a slight down hill and was covered in loose gravel as the road transitioned to a fresh chipseal surface, the kind that chews up skin and flesh.

We rolled out with a neutral start and I settled into my usual spot at the back of the field. The six laps were relatively uneventful, a few break attempts, some chasing, and one guy managed to get away solo for a couple of laps. I took a few short rotations at the front to keep things moving, but mostly just tried to ride as efficiently as possible. Overall the field rode quite well.

We did spook a horse and buggy that came to the road from behind a tree line. The horse took off charging across the plowed field on the other side of the road, with the Amish guy bouncing all over the place, the buggy wheels locked up, and plowed dirt flying everywhere.

But 2011 was not the year for a solo victory here, in the last lap the gap was down to less then 30 seconds, but he was still dangling up the road. Some guys from NCVC (and a few others) did the work and pulled him in.

Coming to the final turn down the finishing straight, there was plenty of communication within the field, and it was apparent that nobody wanted to go down on that chip seal. We rolled around the corner smoothly, much to everyone's relief (I'm sure). The pace slowly ramped up, and I sat back about 7-10 spots, right where I wanted to be. Coming up to within sight of the finish line (300 meters?), I saw someone jump hard from my side and I managed to just barely grab his wheel. He was really flying, and when I was finally gapped, I looked behind me and the rest of the field was still pretty far back. Very satisfied, I sat up and rolled through in second.

Beautiful race, perfect weather, placing in the money, couldn't ask for much more then that. Kudos to NCVC for the chasing, and congrats to the winner, that was a mighty jump.