13 riders 12 of whom were from OVC (Dean P, Dean S, Kevin, Phil, Matt D, Bruce, Brian J, Caleb, Roscoe, Jim B, Barry and Russ) and the 13th visiting from the coast (Randy M) made their exit from SG and rolled to the start line just a few ticks before 6 pm. With no clear cut plan on this warm humid night other than a few intermediate sprint zones, the pace went back and forth depending who was at the nose of the peloton and by the time the riders reached Allen via Cooper Rd, one rider had already lost contact with the group and another decided to sit up and go back and retrieve his fallen teammate.
With 2 of the 13 original starters gone from the Tête de la Course, Dean P, Dean S, Kevin, Phil, Bruce, Brian J, Caleb, Roscoe, Barry, Russ and Randy would carry on and with an average speed of 24.5 mph thus far, Thursday was shaping up to be almost as grueling as it’s big brother (TNR) from 2 nights ago. A high speed flurry to the graveyard was nip and tuck, but it looked as if Dean S, Roscoe and Randy led out by Dean P grabbed the top 3 spots for the first intermediate sprint competition A nature break just past the pond brought the momentum to a crawl, but with the field of 11 making its way onto Polks Rd, the pace would pick back up with each and every passing mile.
Making their way over to Mt Vernon all of the remaining eleven were still present and accounted for and the eastbound trip down Polks despite the 25.5 mph pace did little to unravel this fine ensemble of extremely fit and talented roadies. Another big wattage hammerfest at the end of Polks had Dean S edging out Roscoe to the stop sign for round two of intermediate sprint competition. Another short period of recovery was followed by another brisk tempo grind back to Fruitland and as the field soared by the Allen Cut Off, Dean P, Dean S, Kevin, Phil, Bruce, Brian J, Caleb, Roscoe, Barry, Russ and Randy all had their ticket punched aboard the Black n Blue Pain Train.
With less than a K to go, Russ would be the first to ramp it up at the front and as one of OVC’s founding fathers flicked his elbow there was nothing but clean air between he and the rest of the 1 rider field. It didn’t long however for a small but select group to pounce and freight train the team prez and leading the charge to the line was Brian J. Somewhere in the mix there was another dogfight to the line and keeping something in reserve for the Twilight Crit in Hagerstown on Friday night, Dean P would serve up another nice leadout for his teammates and Sully would out pedal Roscoe for the top stop at the official finish line at the Camden stop sign. Nice job Dean! Finishing close behind were the rest and despite a few recovery periods along the 34.5 mph parcours, the average speed was still close to 24 mph. Thanks for another great ride OVC!