The new Scholars Inn Bakehouse Team Tortuga cycling program was featured in this month’s edition of Bloom Magazine! It’s another example of the community’s support of cycling and its importance as a worthwhile and significant investment. Read about us wherever you get Bloom Magazine!
The gods of thunder and lightening conspired to cancel the main events at Ceraland, considered a season opener for many of us. Despite its billing as an ABR race and not a mainstream USA Cycling event, it always draws top talent and the best teams.
Posted by: Liz Cobb
Harsh headwinds and large fields were the order of the day at the Hillsboro Roubaix. These factors along with the strict enforcement of the “yellow-line rule” made this race challenging for the Team Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse riders who choose to brave several hours in the car to participate. None to say the experience was not worth the trip; it certainly was. The promoters have the organizational aspect of the race down cold after ten-plus years of hosting Hillsboro, the citizens in the surrounding area are very friendly, and the weather was delightful ending up sunny in the mid 60 degree range. Though, as Aaron Piling astutely pointed out, riding for three hours with the fierce head/cross wind constantly changing directions could cause one to question whether or not the conditions were ideal.
Additionally, the enforcement of the center line rule along with the large numbers of racers, made it difficult if not impossible to improve position or bridge gaps if one did not start out in the front of their respective races. Moving around other cyclists on the left, as many of us train to do, was risky as it lead to possible relegation or disqualification depending on how the referee felt. So, in effort to escape the yo-yo effect that is inevitable at the back of large groups, I employed some of my cyclocross skills and rode through the gravel shoulder to join the other engines driving my field. Aaron, Ryan Preske and Tom Saccone all expressed the frustration of seeing the break move away from the packs they were in and felt better positioning at the start could have changed the order of the day.
