Eighteen riders came out Wednesday night to contest the second round of the 2010 South Mountain Summer Smackdown.
Wednesday's event was a 22-mile road race, a route that followed Pine Grove Rd southwest from Pine Grove Furnace SP to Shippensburg Rd, over the Piney Mountain Ridge, then northwest along Wenksville and Coon Rds, back over the mountain on Pine Grove Furnace/Bendersville Rd, and finishing with 1.5 hilly miles back to Laurel Lake.
There were a few half-hearted attempts at attacks and breaking away on the route out Pine Grove Rd and back again on Wenksville, but nothing proved decisive until the Bendersville Rd climb. Brian (YBR) and Chris (YBR guest rider) put in short digs on the lower slopes of the climb that were easily marked by 2M (Ship Cycling). Though the gap hadn't grown to more than a few bike lengths, the goat recovered his sauce, moved up to and passed the earlier aggressors and, with 2M on his wheel, countered with a move that would see the rest of the field distanced and eventually fighting for third place.
"Brian has been climbing really well lately, so when I saw Brian and 2M with a little gap, I thought I'd be watching them duke it out for the win from behind," the good Dr. Goatesauce said after the race. "But when I'd recovered from the initial surge and worked my way back to Brian I saw that he'd blown and realized the time was now, so I rode around him and with Mike on my wheel I just gave it all I had."
All he had was enough, the effort soon left 2M behind and Dr. Goatesauce had 75 yards over the summit. From there it was just a matter of keeping his head down until the finish.
Behind, however, the strung-out riders regrouped and put in a good-faith effort at catching 2M, who survived the sprint for second place by only half a wheel. Brian, Scott (SMVC), and Pete (Ship Cycling) rounded out the top five, an excellent result for the novice Ship Cycling rider.
Individual results:
(1) Dr. Goatesauce (Ship Cycling)
(2) Mike Maret (Ship Cycling)
(3) Brian Hopkins (YBR)
(4) Scott (SMVC)
(5) Pete L. (Ship Cycling)
(6) Pat Hankins (SMVC)
(7) Chris Flegal (YBR guest rider)
(8) Jere Ballard (SMVC)
(9) Joe Kaehler (SMVC)
(10) Rider Big E (Ship Cycling)
(11) Tim Rohrbaugh (SMVC)
(12) Paul P. (YBR)
(13) Jim Hartnett (SMVC)
(14) Chop (Ship Cycling)
(15) John (YBR guest rider)
(16) Rich Shaffer (SMVC)
Donna Wiser was also out, though she didn't quite ride with the group so all I can say definitively is that she was the first female finisher.
Dan Daly started with us, but then took a circuitous route back to the finish, more to watch the action than to compete, methinks.
Team results:
(1) Ship Cycling (1+2+5 = 8)
(2) SMVC (4+6+8 = 18)
(3) YBR (3+7+12 = 22)
Official team standings after round two:
(1) SMVC 8 pts
(1) Ship Cycling 8 pts
(3) YBR 1 pts
Good times!
(See you next Wednesday for round three: the South Mountain hill climb.)
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