With temps in the upper 60’s and this Tuesday marking the official start of the OVC TNR season (and St Patrick’s Day), it was no surprise that OVC would show up in the masses. 19 of the fittest fastest roadies on the shore rolled out on the church on no doubt, the windiest toughest OVC TNR opener on record. 

The First Fast & Furious 15 Miles:

Sailing under the Meadowbridge Rd overpass to officially kick off the 2015 TNR festivities, OVC’s Alex, Barry, Brian J, Caleb, Chad, Chris D, Dean P, Dean S, Jason, John J, Mario, Mark L, Phil, Rick B, Roscoe, Russ, Sean, Sonny and Steve J would use the first few K’s to get up to speed and with official warm up zone from the overpass to McGrath complete, it was hammer down from there to the end of Whitesburg. With the tailwind portion of the ride complete, the 27.5 mph pace from McGrath to the end of Whitesburg and surges approaching 62 kph did start to whittle the field down and as the reduced field made its way onto Courthouse Rd, unfortunately not all of the 19 starters were on board the Black n Blue Train. 

https://www.strava.com/segments/9081256

The Headwind From Hell:

With a howling 20 mph head/crosswind (gust up to 30) awaiting Alex, Barry, Brian, Caleb, Chad, Chris, Dean P, Dean S, Jason, John J, Mario, Mark, Roscoe, Russ, Sonny and Steve, all that was left for the remaining sweet 16 to survive the next 16 miles was rely on their winter training, keep the pulls short and prepare to suffer for the next 45 minutes. Heading northward over the tar n chip pavé of Courthouse, Cokesbury , Perry Hawkin Church and Petes Hill roads, the field despite a series of attacks and surges would for the most part stay intact. A few though would lose their grip on the main bunch as the peloton made their entry onto Meadowbridge Rd and with 6 miles to go, the original field of 19 was now down to a mixed bag of battled tested TNR vets and a couple talented new up and comers. 

With the field almost shrunk in half due in part to the 20 plus mph headwind, it was now down to who saved the most matches, who logged those valuable winter training miles and who had the stomach to dig deep in the hurt locker for roughly 15 more minutes. On that short list of survivors were Dean P, Dean S, Barry, Brian, Caleb, Chris, Jason, John, Mark, Roscoe, Russ, Sonny and Steve. A constant volley of attacks on Meadowbridge by Roscoe kept the lead group on their toes and responding to Roscoe’s frequent offensives and throwing their helmet into the ring on occasion were Dean, Brian, Jason and Mark. Nothing would stick in the closing miles, but the repeated surges and accelerations would generate more attrition and as the leftovers of the 13 Meadowbridge survivors pedaled past McGrath, only Dean P, Brian, Caleb, Jason, Mark, Roscoe, Russ, Sonny and Steve were left in contention for the much anticipated final march to the overpass. 

The Finale:

With a little less than 2.5 miles to go, all remaining 9 principals would now play the game of cat and mouse to secure their spot in the top ten. Despite some calculated jockeying for position and a few taking the ticket taker position in the Tête de la Course, no one in this lead group should have to make apologies for such behavior. After all, the entire lead group of 9 left nothing on the road and all 9 contributed immensely to a more than respectable average speed of 23.8 mph on the 33.7 out and back parcours. 

The results:

The final standings for the first TNR of the 2015 season had Dean edging out his younger teammate Jason for the top stop. Roscoe after tirelessly pushing the pace in the closing miles and doing his best to animate the last few miles ended up third. The prez/route planner Russ dug deep to grab 4th, Steve 5th, Brian 6th and Caleb, Mark and Sonny would round out the top 9. Rolling in only 3 minutes in arrears after an impressive night's work were Barry, Dean S. John J and Chris D. 

Great effort by all and hopefully there’ll be many more epic TNR’s like this one in the future. Thanks Alex, Barry, Brian J, Caleb, Chad, Chris D, Dean P, Dean S, Jason, John J, Mario, Mark L, Phil, Rick B, Roscoe, Russ, Sean, Sonny and Steve J for coming out and supporting the OVC Tuesday Night Ride, the premier training ride on the Easter Shore. 

The ride was capped offed by a little St Patty’s Day post ride meal and beverage at Spec Gravity. OVC sponsor Beauchamp Bros Construction covered the tab and Barry’s teammates and friends were more than delighted and grateful for his generosity.