Feb. 20, 2010
ZENN TEAM EARNS A PODIUM FINISH
Fort Ord Circuit Race
M35+ 1/2/3, ~30 miles
Team: Tom Skiles, Chris Ott
Monterey, CA - It turned out to be a good day for Chris and Tom. The race format was unconventional in that it was a timed circuit race on a 4 mile rolling circuit; kind of a hybrid between a criterium and a road race. The race started under patchy gray skies with wet roads. The threat of rain was omnipresent, but they rolled off the start line with no rain to speak of. As Tom recalls, “An attack was launched shortly after the race got going and neither I nor Chris were in it, but we weren't concerned because there were six Jocelyn's guys in the field and none of them were in that break.” Well, the break didn't last long because the strongest rider, Jan Weissenberger, flatted out and it all came back together.
Chris and Tom raced very aggressively. Chris would attack, then Tom would attack, and again Chris, then Tom, etc. Eventually, something had to stick! It had just started to rain a bit, Chris had just come back to the group after a hearty jaunt off the front and they were riding a 5% grade with a tailwind. Everyone knows that means to ATTACK! Tom jumped, looked to his right and saw a friend from Monterey also punching his way out. The two of them came together, and were shortly joined by Safeway's Nick Theobald, Keith DeFiebre, and a couple of others. Tom was actually somewhat surprised the break stuck because some of the guys would not take pulls. Tom just didn't understand it and it was frustrating for the few of them that were committed to making it stick. Eventually, one of the guys took a few turns, but the other guy largely stayed out of the way.
The six of them stayed together until the bitter end, and of course, the one that was not taking pulls for the last 15 miles, found his sprinting legs and contested the finish. Nick pipped him at the line and Tom came in right behind the two of them for 3rd.
Despite being beaten by questionable tactics, it was a good day. Chris and Tom both had a ton of fun. Next stop for the Zenn train, Snelling RR!
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