Back to Race Reports from 2009
Duluth Stage Race 2009 by Eric Knuth
A brief report from the Duluth Stage race that a number of us (Tom Hooyer, Jim Merrifield, Todd Heal, David Studner, Matt Prest, and Chuck McFarland) all went up to do--as David G mentioned in a previous email, I highly recommend it for next year as it is a really fun event. How often do us weekend warriors get to compete in a real stage race!
Sorry for the lack of reporting from the race this year, but our reports last year were due to the great reporting (and creative prose) of Damon Rinard and David G, who we missed this year. :)
They changed categories from last year, so rather than sporting one team, we had two: Todd Heal, David Studner, Matt Prest, and Chuck McFarland did the young guys race (Men's 3/4) while Tom Hooyer, Jim Merrifield, and I did the old guys race (Men's 40+). Maybe the others can chime in with the view of the 3/4s as I did not see much of their races.
Stage 1: The 16 mile time trial set the stage for the GC leaders, with the BDs all putting in good efforts: Todd (8th), Chuck (11th), and Matt (16th), and David had a good time too riding a non-time trial bike. In the 40+, I took 3rd, while both Tom (on the maiden voyage on his new tt bike) and Jim (on his non-tt bike) had good times as well. In the 40+, the guy who won the TT last year (and finished 3rd on GC last year), won the TT again this year. I improved my time from last year by over a minute, but unfortunately, so did he!
Stage 2: A relatively flat road race, and in the 3/4s, Todd took 7th and Chuck took 11th. In the 40+, I took 7th and unfortunately Tom got taken down during the finishing sprint (the good news--bike was OK, although the carbon bars had to be replaced). He did get some road rash on his butt, but that is a matter for a different email! The stage was pretty uneventful, a couple of attacks, but nothing stuck and we rode together for a field sprint at the end.
Stage 3: A hilly road race and like last year, is the stage that would be the only real chance for the GC to change. In the 3/4s I heard the pace was really fast, and the boys pretty much finished in the main group (except for Todd and Matt who had some bike issues--Todd flatted, the support car passed him, and Matt then gave him his wheel--what a teammate!). And believe it or not, Matt actually went for a run right after the stage--Ironman training! In the 40+, I attacked on the 4th of 5 laps (like last year), only this time the GC leader, who last year couldn't climb, somehow learned to climb! He did tell me he lost about 10-15 lbs and had been working on his climbing (unfortunately he told me this after the race--had I known I would have attacked earlier!). The finish was at the top of the climb, so on the final time up two of us attacked again and we each did gain some time (and time bonuses), but not enough. I finished 2nd on the stage and remained in 3rd on GC. Tom finished in the main chase group and Jim had the pleasure of doing a solo ride for a few laps!
Stage 4: A crit with a nice little kicker hill in it. Lots of guys seemed to be hurting from the previous day's hilly stage. In the 3/4s the boys again finished in the pack. My only hope to repeat as GC winner was to solo in for a win, which needless to say did not happen! The GC leader was not letting anyone get away, I tried once with two laps to go, got a gap, but couldn't hold it as what was left of the pack chased me down. I took 3rd, but ended up 33" back of 1st, and 23" back of second.
All in all it was a great 4 days of racing, and I encourage you to think about doing it next year. See http://www.duluth-classic.com/ for the full race details.