We just had a great weekend racing in the Tour de Millersburg. We put 5 in the top 10 GC with 2 stage victories. We also went 1st and 2nd GC!! It was a great weekend for KBS/LSV. I put together a race report for our club and sponsors to read and have included it below. I've also shared a few photo's from the weekend below.
Race Report:
Tour de Millersburg- Millersburg, PA (Sat AM TT, Sat Afternoon Crit, Sunday AM Road Race)
Sat 8/13-Sun 8/14
Results/Squad:
Jacob Mueller (GC-1st, RR- 1st, Crit-2nd, TT-11th)
Blair Berbert (GC-2nd, RR-3rd, Crit-13th, TT-2nd)
Russ Brown (GC-7th, RR-16th, Crit-9th, TT-6th)
Todd Hesel (GC-8th, RR-19th, Crit-11th, TT-4th)
Jake Tremblay (GC-9th, RR-28th, Crit-10th, TT-1st)
R Muio (GC-18th, RR-29th, Crit-16th, TT-16th)
Andrew Suchocki [(GC-44th, RR-21st, Crit-DNF, TT-52nd (Merckx Style)]
Millersburg, PA has always been a favorite for the Kelly Elite Amateur Team. This cozy, sleepy, little town sits 25 miles north of Harrisburg and has been home of this stage race for 5 years and we’ve always made a point to attend. Coupled with a great host house, we are always excited for Millersburg as it has traditionally suited our strengths as a team. This year was a bit different as they shortened the TT and road race as well as changing the crit from a challenging non-traditional course to a typical 4 corner drag race. That being said, we brought it together Friday night for a great dinner at the usual Wooden Nickel in the downtown area to talk strategy going into the weekend. We had the strongest team and therefore would be expected to perform. That we did.
Time Trial- A short 9.5mile out and back flat course would suite us real nice. Our plan was to stack the top 10 with as many riders as we could. This would give us a number of weapons to use going into the crit and road race. Our results speak pretty highly as we put 4 in the top 10 GC. A great job by all and a bold statement to the rest of the field that we were there to dominate.
Crit- 4 corner, rectangle, 35 mile, 44 lap crit. We would soon find out that this course was rather sketchy. While the turns were clean, they were very tight causing some havoc within the field. Our plan was to make the race as hard as we could. From the gun, the game was on. Again, we made a bold statement early on as we set a blistering pace launching non Kelly riders off the back. One by one, we were attacking the front in hopes that something would stick and get away. Missing our true sprinter, Evan Fader, we wanted to create a break in hopes of bettering ourselves on the GC for tomorrow’s road race. If that couldn’t happen, we simply wanted to maintain our positions as we knew our strength would come in the next day’s road race. Attack after attack and you could see the faces of many non Kelly’s growing tired. Finally with about 20 miles to go, I would attack on the back side portion and get away. Soon after an Alliance rider would bridge up. We would roll for a few laps before we had a Boston Bicycle School rider bridge as well. Now the break was 3 and we rolled well. I was in great hands as my wonderful teammates were shutting anything down that tried to come off the field. They blocked and followed anyone that attempted to bridge up. Unfortunately, a wreck would occur involving both R and Todd Hesel. Troopers as always, they would rejoin the race as soon as their bikes were ready to go. Meanwhile in the break, I noticed that 1 of the 2 riders seemed to be putting on a show that he was severely fatigued. I also knew that I did not want to go into a sprint with Alliance rider, Ryan Shebelsky. That in mind, I attacked with 2 laps to go and dropped Shebelsky. Unfortunately, Boston Bicycle School guy would linger behind me 5 bike lengths the entire rest of the way and nip me on the line to take the stage win. Not cool! In the meantime, Blair would make a solo attempt to jump the field and solo in for a 4th place finish but would get caught heading into the finish line for a respectable 13th place. Big thanks to my awesome teammates as the break would not have succeeded without their help governing the field. They willingly sacrifice their own results for the bettering of my GC placing. Thanks guys.
Road Race- 74 mile, 4 lap rolling terrain course. After host house Duane put on a solid table of ‘baked oatmeal’ for us, we headed out for our 8am start time. Rain would fall on and off throughout the entire race. With 5 in the top 10 GC, our plan was to sit quiet for the first 2 laps, than implode some serious fireworks the remaining 2. We did just that and rolled with a few early moves doing our little bits of work here and there. As we passed the start/finish line with 2 laps to go, we started the entourage. R would throw himself out there, followed by attacks from Blair, Jake T, Todd, Andrew and Russ…etc…etc… We hit it hard and made the race tough in lap 3. Again, you could see the fatigue setting in on non Kelly’s. Unfortunately, to that point no move was staying away. With a few miles remaining before the beginning of the final lap (lap 4), I attacked off the front solo on a small hill. Putting a bit of a stiff effort in, I looked under my shoulder to see no one was coming. Without blowing myself up, I settled in for a hard tempo effort, passed the start finish line and into the somewhat hard portion of the lap. Soon thereafter, I saw a lone rider bridging up. I let off a bit and welcomed him onboard. Being a non-Kelly rider and having at least 15 miles to go with nothing more than a 45 second gap from the field, I assured him I wasn’t going to turn myself inside out to stick the move. He agreed, and we rolled together until the last 6-8 miles when I heard a loud, high pitch “Jacob” from behind and saw a motivated Blair Berbert bridging up. He would catch, take a little breather, and soon all 3 of us committed to the move. The Kelly squad behind was doing a phenomenal job covering all moves and blocking again as needed. The 3 of us worked well together and stayed away. Blair, with all the conviction in the world, would give me a little “you’re sprinting this out” sign and take one more hard pull, before I sat on the wheel of the non Kelly. He looked back, looked forward, looked back and once more forward before I jumped and opened up the gap that he wouldn’t be able to close. I sprinted in for 1st place thanks to an awesome job by Blair (finished 3rd on the day) and an unselfish squad of Kelly’s (Jake T, Russ B, Andrew S, R, Todd H) to monitor and cover all moves from the field. Again they would forgo their own personal winnings to monitor the field for Blair and I. What a finish for a great stage race.
Special thanks to the glue of this team, Murray Davis, for all the support, feeds, laughs and organization he brings to our squad. Your efforts are often times overlooked, but a huge part of our success. Also, thank you to the DeWees family for graciously putting us up in your home. Your support and enthusiasm for what we do is priceless. Thank you again.
Thanks for reading.
A story is nothing without pictures:
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| That would be Todd and Andrew working the tooth brush! |
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| A peak of our awesome host house garage/KBS camp..such a perfect set up!! |
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| Thats me!!...working on my belly. |
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| Our Millersburg dad- Duane DeWees. Great host family...thank you again Duane!! |
There you have it. A great weekend for our team. As far as the rest of the season. I've got teammates heading to MD this weekend to defend the MABRA TT Championship Jersery...good luck Todd, Blair and Jake T. I'm entering a little training block and looking forward to staying local this weekend. Not too many races left on the season, but rather very important ones: Chris Thater, Green Mountain Stage Race, Univest and Capital Crit.
Planning my ride today and looking outside seeing sheets of rain falling down....awesome!!
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