Pedal Away Prostate Cancer Race Recap
With a handful of riders rolling from Salisbury, nine OVC racers -- Mark, Roscoe, Caleb, Frankie, Mario, Bill, Jim D., Sonny, and Rick W. -- hit the road for Dover’s Pedal Away Prostate Cancer Race. Although the event is open to all riders, it’s a national qualifier for the Senior Olympics and has drawn quality competition for the last several years. This year, approximately 80 racers lined up Saturday morning for a fast 25 miles.
Having the largest contingent of racers in the field, OVC stuck with its plan and set a brisk, Tuesday Night-esque tempo right from the start. A slight tailwind helped the club maintain a blistering 27mph pace for the first 9.5 miles, pushing everyone to their limits. After a couple of early breakaway attempts fizzled, Frankie and another rider found themselves with a slight gap from the now-20-rider main field. OVC controlled the front and let pair drift up the road and get a 15-20 second lead. Then, as the group turned back into the wind, Mark launched a perfectly-timed attack to bridge up to Frankie.
Two other riders, including last year’s winner, grabbed Mark’s wheel and hoped to enjoy a free ride up to the leaders. Mark, however, had other plans for them. Showing some great racing smarts, Mark patiently forced the other riders to pull through and contribute to the chase. They were either unwilling or unable, allowing Mark to re-launch his bridging attempt. The 2 interlopers dropped back to the OVC-controlled field and Mark eventually made contact with Frankie and his breakaway companion.
With their OVC teammates maintaining a watchful eye of the main field, the three-man break quickly got out of sight and built up a one minute lead. With about 3 or 4 miles to go, Frankie and Mark turned the screws on the third rider, who was unable to maintain their pace. The OVC-pair motored on to grab first (Frankie) and second (Mark) with a time of 55 min 34 sec. With a team victory wrapped up, OVC ramped up the pace for the final two miles and hoped to get a few more placings. Despite being the only riders doing any work at the front all day, Sonny, Caleb, and Mario delivered the goods and grabbed 3rd, 4th, and 6th in the field sprint for 5th, 6th, and 8th overall.
OVC had 5 of the top ten placings and nine of the top 23. Great racing, fellas! Post-race pizza, BBQ, and unlimited Dogfish 60min IPA samples were enjoyed by all. In sum, it was a fun event and a great venue to apply all the skills we’ve been honing every Tuesday this season. Thanks to everyone who participated and we hope to see even more next year.