I did the OVR Summer Solstice Stage Race last weekend. This is the third year I have done the race and its always a lot of fun. In 2006 and 2007, I was on the team with the GC winner of the Cat 3 race. Tom Herman won the overall in 2006 with the Business Lenders team. Dan Campbell won in 2007 with Team Anthem. Dan started 2007 as a legitimate Cat 5 in his first year of racing. By the end of June 2007, he was a legitimate Cat 2. He is riding with RGF this year and won the overall GC in the Cat 1-2 race this year. The really cool thing about Dan is that is is so unassuming and modest about his success. I heard someone ask him, after Sunday's stage, how he finished. He responded with "pretty good". When he was asked where he placed, he sounded almost embarrassed to say he won the overall. I really hope he gets the opportunity to ride with a big team sometime soon.

On to the race...

Friday - Stage 1 - 35 Mile Circuit Race
The race was suppose to be 47 miles but because of the rain and the dark sky, it was shortened to 35 miles. Jeff, Kyle, Todd, Doug G. and I lined for the Friday evening race. We did a good job of covering anything that went off the front. Jeff even rode off on a couple of solo attempts later in the race. With just a couple of miles to go, two different riders tried to ride away and steal the stage. Kyle went to the front both times to bring the breaks back. The stage ended with a crazy field sprint. Jeff finish in sixth place. He was going to be our GC guy.

Saturday - Stage 2 - 65 mile Circuit Race
Stage 2 was to be a 65 mile circuit race on a rolling course. We had Jason, Todd, Jeff, Dan, John, Doug G. and I for the stage. Several miles of the course had been tared and chipped a few days before the race. After the Women, Cat 5s and Masters raced, on the original course in the morning, the officials decided to change the course in order to avoid the fresh tar and gravel. We ended up doing eight laps on an eight mile rolling course with one small hill. Speaking of the hill, there was a KOM prize for the first rider across the line on lap 4. I thought the KOM was being given on lap 2. It didn't take long for me to realize I had gone for the prize on the wrong lap, when no one bothered to chase. I hate being that guy. The Walker team was aggressive during the first three laps. Jason and I both made moves off the front to try to pull something away. The peloton was not going to let anyone get off the front until the top two on GC got away with another rider, with 20 miles to the finish. By this point Walker was down to just Dan, Doug and I still in the race. Jeff had flatted and the rest of the guys decided to pack it in early. We had to concede the first three places on the stage and sprint for 4th. Dan did a good job to finish 11, I crossed the line in 17 with Doug G. right behind me.


Saturday - Stage 3 - 7 Mile ITT
I won't say much about the TT. Seven miles on a flat course. Doug and I were the only two Walker riders to do the TT. We were both using our regular road bikes...no TT bikes...no TT bars...no nothing...including no legs. I wasn't last...that's all I can say.

Sunday - Stage 4 - 72 Mile Circuit Race
Dan, Todd, Scott, Jeff, Doug G. and I were there to ride the last stage. I was worried about getting through the 72 miles. I was tired, my legs hurt and Jeff and I spent too much time in the hotel bar on Saturday night. I just wanted to finish. About the only thing I had going for me was the course was flat as a pancake. Todd went with a group that rolled off in the first couple of miles and ended up in a group of five or six that stayed away for the first 10 or 12 miles of the race. Doug G. flatted maybe 20 miles in. That left me as the only Walker rider with a chance to finish all four stages. A few other moves went but everything was brought back. Jeff made a solo move late and was off alone for 10 miles until the GC guys decided to bring him back with just 14 miles to go. I think he had the group worried when his gap got really big. I was cramping pretty bad and told Scott I did not think I could help with his sprint. Scott is good enough that he doesn't really need much help to be in good position for the sprint. A couple of miles from the finish, I saw Scott moving up on the left when the blue coat on the moto rode up beside him and yelled at him about crossing the center line. I guess that put Scott in a bad place for the sprint and he could not really move up to a good position for the sprint. I tried to stand and sprint at the end but I was just cramping too bad. Jeff managed to pull off a 10 place on the stage. Too bad he flatted on stage 2. I think he would have pulled off a GC top 10 for sure.

Congratulations to Ryan V. on his 2nd place in the overall GC in the Cat 3 race. Congratulations to all the guys on Walker Companies-Olympus Homes. I think the whole team made a good show for the weekend.

After I made it home I spent the evening sitting on the deck drinking one of these...

http://www.delirium.be/
A great way to end the weekend.