With winter only just gone and summer on the way, the IRS spring series finally got underway at Morgan-Monroe with the MMSF RR on the classic Mount Bean circuit. For most Tortugans it was a first road race of the year and the team had much success with podium places for Gary Palmer (40+), Ren-Jay (Cat 4) and Taylor Gaines (Citizens) as well as top ten positions for Mike Brauner (40+) and Pat Garner (Citizens).
The plan of the Cat 2/3 squad to race in that event was altered prior to race day due to the horrid Wednesday worlds of certain squad members (me) and lack of anyone racing who was under 30. Therefore the decision was made that turtles Purvis, Millar, Lewis and Parry who contest the new Master3/4 category. The wisdom of that choice seems clear when Guy East, Brett Stewart (both ‘fresh’ from the Tour of Virginia), Mike Kehrberg and other ‘Cat 2s’ rolled up to begin the 2/3 event (The ABR isn’t quite as rigorous as the USCF in its categorization!).
The MAS3/4 event had a good field of about 40 riders but the pace was somewhat sedate for the first lap as everyone wondered how their climbing legs were feeling. About half the field were found the legs weren’t quite there yet as on the second roll down forest road the main group was down to about 25 riders! It was here that the race began in earnest with a few small groups rolling off the front, resulting in two riders developing a gap on the rest of the field. At this time with one independent and one affiliated rider (Heroes) up the road you’d think about 20 of the remaining riders would have an incentive to chase? Sadly not! Tortuga and a few other individuals took up the chase and for a while it appeared the break would come back. However without the dedication (or with the laziness) of a few extra riders the little group stayed away. Myron was clearly frustrated by this and was most often found on the front forcing the pace. Hopefully there were a few riders chuckling in the bunch that ‘this guy is just wearing himself out’. Well those riders were left to think again as final time up Mt Bean Myron stayed with a the small lead group and then crushed them in the sprint for 3rd. Although pleased with the result this of course added to the ‘if onlys’ and the thoughts that if we’d just chased a little harder…..

This past wednesday saw the first significant Wednesday test of the year- The forest-north shore-south shore loop where those with no climbing legs would soon be found out. A group of 25 rolled out and kept a steady tempo on old37 past Anderson road and onto the first of the days climbs. The tempo was hard but fair on this drag but as soon as the lip was reached the attacks blasted off with the Morris Trucking duo of Issac Neff and Ryan Knapp to the fore. I was promptly dropped and then punctured (unfortunately in that order) so Ren-jay Shei will take up the story-

The rest of the worlds went well…we got going pretty fast, regrouped at the bottom of
Bean Blossom, then got going again after the big hill on North Shore. There were tons of
attacks by Kehrberg, Neff, Knapp, Sherer, Chartier and some other people. Myron and
Isaiah were kind enough to tow me back up when I was feeling poopy. We kept a good pace
with an alarmingly fast attack by Kerhberg on South Shore. We regrouped after a
successful chase, and then Neff took off going up the hill on South Shore. I barely hung
on the back and then the pace eased back up a little at the top. When we got to
Robinson, there was a strong attack by Myron and he stayed away until just before the 1/2
mile to go mark, when he was caught. There were some more attacks, but nobody was sure
where the finish was, as we all have no sense of how far a 1/2 mile is. Kerhberg came
flying up the left side and I hopped on his wheel. He took the final sprint easily with
Sherer second and me third. Overall one heck of a ride. Great turnout, especially
considering the dreary weather.

Next week the forest loop riding up Beanblossom. Climbing legs required again!

Those many people who had some reservations about the policy of canceling Ceraland last Saturday certainly would have to agree with the master plan of Dan Daly as Sunday dawned very brightly for the first major rendez-vous of the Indiana Season. Tortuga was well represented throughout the events of the day with Dave Shirley starting our day with a strong showing in the Citizens event. Tom Saccone and I arrived 15 minutes before the start of the new Masters cat3/4 category event and on learning that there were over 40 participants I jumped straight in with the plan of warming up for the upcoming Cat3 event. However it was all pretty plain sailing and in the eventually bunch sprint I finished in 13th after getting my sprint baulked a couple of times in the last 200m. That’ll teach my for trying to start my sprint from about 25th position!
The Cat3 event then became immediately where I was joined by Myron Lewis and Jon Purvis. My plan was to keep a low profile and I successfully achieved my goal and aside from a few laps driving the bunch I succumbed to trashed legs with a lap to go. Jon Purvis started in quite the opposite manner and was a regular in the early salvos and was then ever present on the front of the group as Myron soloed up to the winning break with about 15minutes remaining. The break stayed away and Myron rewarded the teams’ hard work with a strong top ten position!
Riders Saccone, Heffner, Davis, Palmer. Millar and Brauner then lined up for the 40+ event. The brutal pace of the race was exemplified by the fact that no significantly sized breaks formed during an event that typically sees the win contested from a 5-10 man break. Tortuga members were active covering and being part of numerous abortive breaks so the team was pleased with its strong team-work that bodes well for the future.
The Tortugan daily highlight was certainly the performance of new-boy Chris Beck who featured in break of the day in the Cat4 event. Unusually for this event four riders were ‘up the road’ for a full 45mins of the 1hour race. In the finale pulling out a foot from his pedal cost Chris a potential victory but he still managed an excellent 3rd place. He will be rocking it in the higher categories in no time to be sure and is already proving to be an excellent addition to the team!
Remember to check out the Results section of the website to mull over the details of the day!