Quabbin Road Race and a relaxing weekend.
This past weekend the team got ready to hit the local roads around the Quabbin Reservoir. This race is always a good one and usually allows for the strong guys to lay the hurt on the field and make a break away happen on the hilly roads. I am always psyched for this race, because it suits my riding ability and its 20 minutes from my house, So the motivation was high going into this race.
The entire team was ready to rip and we had our team meeting and our plan was set to go for the race. We were to be aggressive and make sure we had at least 2 guys in every move. Well, we executed our plan pretty well and mixed it up and had a guy in every move. It was looking like it was going to be a hard day in the saddle when I got away with a teammate of mine, Sean McCarthy and Tim Mitchell of CCB, pretty early on and got a large gap pretty quickly. Where we got away was usually the spot where the break goes on this course. I was confident and started taking steady pulls on the front to keep it moving. I got prepared to get caught by a few more really fast guys in the race that would not settle for a pack finish. Then the entire field caught us and we were shut down! DAMN! Time to recover and go for it again later in the race.
To spare you all the boring stuff, the race kept rolling and I put in a few more super big digs up some of the climbs but the wind was not allowing for a move to get off the front for to long and the entire field was still together… So it was to come to a sprint finish. The weirdest sprint finish ever. The team had talked about what was going to happen and who was going to cover the blistering attacks that always come way to early in the finishing rise. Well none of the those attacks came, and at the 200 meter mark we were all still looking at each other wondering who was going to jump. Then, BAM, it happened and Dylan McNicholas jumped at about 175m to go and just held it up the slight rise. I took 6th and my teammate took 5th in the run into the line.
Two years ago, or even last year I might have been happy to finish top 10 in a field of a bunch of strong guys. But its frustrating at this point and im sick of getting top 10′s and I am craving a win badly. 6th place is no longer good enough. I want to win. Thats why I dedicate so much time to this sport, because I want to win and be the best I can. I am stronger this year, and know it can happen if I play my cards right.
So that was Saturday. On Sunday I went home to Fitchburg MA to spend some time with the family, see friends, and have a relaxing day away from bike racing. My dad is running a new Country Club in Maynard MA, and my mom and I decided to go check it out and play a round of golf. For those of you that don’t know, before all this bike racing stuff I was a highly competitive golfer in the spring and summer. SO instead of riding my bike for 4 hours a day, I was often playing a round of golf or on the putting green practicing my accuracy for 4-6 hours a day!! I wonder if in my next life I will choose a sport that doesnt require so much time… Maybe bowling, darts, competetive eating???? But thats what makes this sport of cycling so rewarding! The time and effort you put into it for the small victories you see every week. So it was nice to get back out on the course and give it a go again. It came back pretty fast and I started hitting the ball pretty well and playing good golf!
So with a good round of golf finished, my mom and I went out to dinner and then headed up to my cousins house to watch her 9 month old walk for the first time. This is hilarious and cute because its kind of like watching a drunk baby monkey try and walk. Its so funny and cute.
Next weekend is the Tour of the Dragons in Bennington VT. Last year I had a pretty poor race here. I am looking for some better results this year. And its cool to think that last year at this time I was racing the Tour of Gravatai in Brazil, and soaking in the sun for 3 weeks. I would do anything to get back down to Brazil and do some more racing, such a beautiful country! Im definitely trying to plan another trip down there in the summer at some point. I hope I can make it happen. Check back in next week for a re-cap on the Tour of the Dragons.
OH, one last thing. My brother, Tim Durrin, came in second at the Merrimac road race on Sunday. He raced the cat three field and got into a move and took 2nd behind my good friend Dan Oullette (who was one of the first guys that got me into cycling). Good job Timmy D!!! Watch out for him, hes going to be fast!
