Joe Martin Stage Race Day 3

92-mile road race.

We raced our hearts out and maintained our GC places with aplomb. Also, it’s Johnson’s birthday. Here’s a picture of his birthday deep-fried twinkie:As for the race: the course was 11 miles out to a 23-mile loop, which we raced three times, followed by a return on the 11-mile finish stretch to a wide-open sprint finale.

We cruised easily out to the circuit and then began the loops with a moderate climb. There were a few attacks but nothing notable. Just steady riding. On the second lap Johnson got into an 8-man break that worked to get up to 40 seconds. But just like yesterday, the pack closed it down for no apparent reason other than dumb hunger. After that there were a few more surges, and then ACR decided to keep it spicy with an onslaught of jabs off the front. Micah and Johnson one-two punched the field over and over until people in the pack started coming up to us complaining about cramping calf muscles (not making this stuff up!). After the field was softened up a little Tuttle fired off a hail Mary with about 15 miles to go to the finish. He launched solo over a little roller and in no time had 25 seconds on the field. Andrew Wetherington of Fly V bridged up and the two worked hard for a few miles but the top GC contenders weren’t having any of it and again the pack swallowed up the duo on the rolling course.

With the field all together going into the 11 mile return to town, the pace picked up a bit. Johnson and Micah kept the tempo up on the front of the group. The course suggested that nothing other than a group sprint would work, so when four guys broke off the front with about 7 miles to go the field let them get some time. Unfortunately, the foursome worked steadily and rode across the finish line with an 18-second lead. Tuttle attacked once more with 2km to go but got swarmed at 500 meters. ACR finished in the pack with no time difference. As a side note, Johnson took 17th place and earned enough points to make the jump to the Cat 1’s. After just three months of racing, this is one guy to keep an eye on!

GC after stage three:
Tuttle in 8th
Johnson in 14th
Micah in 50th

Final stage is the downtown Criterium. We’ll see what we can do!
Top-10 GC bib numbers on Johnson's Pegoretti.A clean bike is a fast bike. Polishing sprockets before the race.