The March to the Moon Ride Report
Fifteen riders arrived at the Marine Corps Logistics Base this morning to brave the cold temps and the 85 miles of rollers. Kent’s truck said it was 38 degrees when we started off. Everyone was in full cold weather gear except for Bill Riddle. My guess is Bill was having some dyslexic issues and thought the thermometer said 83 degrees. Sleeveless jersey, arm warmers, shorts, some funky looking knee socks that wouldn’t stay up and fingerless gloves!! If I had known ahead of time, I would have brought Bill some of my special polka dots to wear! Ed Hudson arrived just in time to say hello and take pre-ride pictures for us. He said he was curious to see how many crazy cyclists would show up to ride. A big thanks to Ed for his support.
The route took us south out to Spring Flats, South County Line Road, Moultrie Road, Nelms Road and Gravel Hill Road before we hit 112 and headed back toward Sylvester. The group stayed together and tried to warm up during the first part of the ride. Nothing super exciting happened as we started to make our way to Sylvester and prepare for the attack zone on Massey Airport Road. We lost one rider around the 36 mile mark. Down to fourteen. Once on Massey Airport Road, I broke out my whistle and the attacks began. Mark Thompson took off first with Selby, Ryan, Mark M, Thomas and several others right behind him. I jumped with them but realized that my legs weren’t feeling it and decided to play it smart and stay back with Ray, Chip C, Collin and the rest of the crew. Mark Thompson, Selby Holler and Ryan Couture took the points in the attack zone. Look at the Alabama boys coming over and stealing the points!
Steady pace into Sylvester and a much needed store stop at the 51 mile mark. Everyone stood in the sun and tried to stay warm as they scarfed down their goodies. I saw bagels with apricot jam & peanut butter, Sprees, Elfin cookies, Snickers, Red Bulls…. refill the bottles and we were off again. We headed out of Sylvester and onto some roads that I had never ridden (Lundy, Strangward, Isabella Terrell, Medders). We ended up back in familiar territory as we turned onto Red Rock Road and prepared for the final sprint. The guys asked where the sprint started and I told them wherever they thought could take it from. I didn’t care if they took off right at the beginning of Red Rock but I would be very surprised if they could hold off the group for that long. That being said, I decided to put in a few efforts by myself and work on my fitness. I took off ahead of the group and got in a steady rhythm. Red Rock is a fun, winding road with a few small little hills and some nice downhill sections. I had gone for a few miles before I realized that I had company. Collin Enfinger and Ray Fararo had bridged up to me. I pulled off the front and the three of us began to rotate through around 20-23 mph pace. Not really fast or slow…. just steady. I looked behind us expecting to see the rest of the group and the group was nowhere to be seen. Ray, Collin and I kept our little rotation going and I started wondering if the rest of the group was going to be able to catch them. I started thinking that I should probably get out of the rotation because I’m not really supposed to do anything in the attack or sprint zones but stay out of the way. As I was thinking about all of this, Ray glanced back and saw them chasing and closing the gap. I got in the back of our group and kept an eye on the chase group. Selby, Ryan, Mark M and Mark T were pushing the pace as hard as they could to catch us. Kent was with them and I found out later that Kent was blocking everytime he was in the front. It took the guys a little while to realize that Kent wasn’t helping them out and the four of them had to start working together if they were going to catch us before the final sprint. Kent’s reason for not helping them? His teammate (ME) was up the road and he had no reason to chase us down. Nice teamwork. The chase group caught us a couple of miles before the final sprint. Ray and Collin jumped in with the other four guys and the tactics began. I stayed in the back and watched it go down as Kent sprinted ahead to the finish to take pictures. Mark Miller tried to attack early but Ray chased him down. Then a little cat and mouse game as nobody wanted to be the first to go…. It came down to the very end with Ray having a strong final sprint and taking the 50 points. Selby, Collin, Ryan and Mark M rounded out the Top 5. Mark Thompson rolled in right after Mark M with the rest of the guys a little farther back. We took North County Line Road and Fleming Road back to the Marine Base and rolled into the parking lot with 85 miles in our legs. Once again, Chip Battle and Mitch Mercer took home the Overachiever’s Award. Wikipedia defines overachievers as “individuals who perform better or achieve more success than expected”. The two of them rode to and from their homes today and added an extra 20ish miles to our 85 miler. Yep, 105+ miles! And a big Happy Birthday to Chip!!
Congrats to Ray for winning the final sprint today and taking home a gift certificate from Harvest Moon. A big thank you to Bo Henry for sponsoring today’s ride. Please support our sponsors…. Harvest Moon, The Catch or Henry Campbell’s Steakhouse. All are great places to eat! Mark Thompson’s domination in the GC continued as he will wear the Leader’s Jersey in the Winter Training Series Finale next week. Mark has held the Leader’s Jersey the entire series. He has ridden every week and has been very aggressive. Kent said that Mark deserved the MAR today. Unfortunately, we don’t give awards for that but he would have won it if we did. Good Job Mark!
Our GC after Week 7: 1. Mark Thompson (350 points) 2. Ray Fararo (200 points) 3. Selby Holler (185 points) 4. Josh Fix (155 points) 5. Collin Enfinger (125 points)
Next week is the Winter Training Series Finale!! The PCP Race Team will sponsor next week’s ride which will leave from Cycle World at 10am. Double points with an attack zone, KOM and final sprint. We will tackle the SB&T Road Race course with a little extra mileage just for fun. Looks like we’ll end up with right around 90 miles. Check out the Winter Training Series page for all of the details. Don’t miss the last week-end of the WTS!!
