A large field of 22 riders was witness to ride-leader flailing at this week’s TNW. Network problems at the start interfered with my ability to see other name plates during the neutral and as a result the start was chaotic with the neutral pace somewhat higher than usual. I apologize for the mishap, it was due to insufficient testing of a Bluetooth headset that turned out not to get along well with my wifi connection.
Of note was the first woman to start the race. Thanks for joining, Jill Seeman! Hopefully we will soon get enough women joining for a women’s category in the results. Unfortunately her coach didn’t allow her to race the whole race due to an upcoming TT. Who do these coaches think they are anyway, some kind of training experts? 
In the A group a lead group of five riders consisting of J. Schoenick, J. Siegel, N. Guerra, C. Schumm and F. Garcia established itself after the first climb. During the first lap D. Dickson from the B group managed to bridge up as well. This group rode together until the third big climb on which Siegel attacked with power that only Schoenick and Guerra could match. Schoenick jumped after the hairpin with Siegel and Guerra chasing back on to consolidate the gap over the chasers. Dickson dropped out of the chase during the remainder of the lap leaving Schumm and Garcia chasing. This situation held until the last lap where Schoenick attacked on the big climb. He managed to establish a 10s gap by the top of the hill. Guerra suffered an untimely mechanical (gears skipping) leaving Siegel to chase on his own. Siegel put in a strong effort to bridge the gap by the rollers. Siegel attempted a surprise attack at about 500m to go, but Schoenick managed to get back into the draft and pass for the win. Guerra managed to limp over the line for third.
In the B group, J. Shuttleworth managed to gap the rest of the group (excepting Dickson as mentioned above) on the first climb. He found some help from C. Bolling and S. Shaw. A chase group consisting of J. Giles, T. Hocking, C. Wiedmann (A), and J. Pait (A) formed behind. These groups rode a minute apart on the course for most of the race with Dickson coming back and being passed by both groups after expending a lot of energy with the A group. R. Ray blew by both groups on his way to try to catch as many A riders as possible. In the finale, Shuttleworth managed to hold off the chase to take the win by a large margin. Giles and Dickson rounded out the podium.
Thank you all for joining and I apologize for the disappointing experience due to the bad start. I will do my best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again in future races.
Results:
A Group
- J. Schoenick 1:13:46 (41.3 km/h)
- J. Siegel s.t.
- N. Guerra 0:00:48
- C. Schumm 0:02:25
- F. Garcia 0:03:01
- R. Ray 0:02:56 (missed start due to neutral problems)
- B. Pucsek 0:03:21 (missed start due to neutral problems)
DNF J. Seeman
DNF C. Wiedmann
DNF J. Pait
DNF C. Bolling
DNF S. Shaw
B Group
- J. Shuttleworth 1:18:34 (38.9 km/h)
- J. Giles 0:01:36
- D. Dickson 0:02:29
- R. Van Praet (couldn’t find Strava Activity)
- M. Gow 0:08:55
DNF T. Hocking
DNF M. Schlitzer
DNF L. Landim
DNF G. Sollenberger
Note: Time gaps for entertainment purposes only. Corrections to placings and race narrative are welcome.
Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/765072400274705
Strava fly-by: http://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/#307889328,onpZEi+6WRLqulkS7r5ZEkK/WRLZxlkSeNlZElPmWRI751kSQepZEhPsWRIx71kSJvVZEhv2WRIK/FkSeP1ZEncmWhKDJ1oSqpxaEg==