Always a Bridesmaid…never a Bride.

“You guys raced a great race, it seems like you did everything right in the break and made the Essex boys work to catch the front break…so how did we finish” asks Ray Dybowski. “Ummm…Danny took 3rd, and I took 5th…Cruise took a flyer with two to go, then Danny went, and after he was caught what I should of done was…” I replied. Ray abruptly rebutles, “I don’t want to hear about what you should of done…just do it next time, get it done next time”! Tough love.

So it seems that since Michigan road racing has swirled straight down the toilet for the month of July, racers are beginning to view Thursday night Waterfords as our best opportunity to go head to head with each other. This was reflected in this Thursday’s record 64 racers in the “A” field.

Race Cliff notes:
-Break stuck about 30min. into the two-hour race.
-We had Cruise and Cory represented
-Chase break formed with about 50min. left of racing; initially we had no one represented in the chase
-Danny and I bridged to the chase.
-Tim Saari gets dropped from the front break
-Bruce, Gilboe, and Terry P of Essex are represented in the chase break and the only team without a rider in the front break so the chase falls on their shoulders.
-After much hard work, the Essex boys manage to bring us up to the front group, which now has more WSC riders than any other team.
-With two to go, Cruise and Danny throw down back-to-back attacks that are both brought back in.
-Brian Adams takes a crack at it last lap and is caught by the sprint pack on the last turn.

Top 15 Results:
1. Bruce Rivera - Essex Brass
2. Terry Palmer - Essex Brass
3. Dan Klein - WSC
4. Jeff Weinert - Team Giant
5. Tim Finkel - WSC
6. Christopher Bogedin - WSC
7. Bob Hokin - Team Giant
8. Vince Roberge - South Lyon
9. Tom Archer - Lathrup Industries
10. ??????
11. Jame Bruce - Lathrup Industries
12. James Ignash - FRCC
13. Bill Gilboe - Essex Brass
14. Brian Adams - Lathrup Industries
15. John Sammut – WSC

It seems that this season I have definitely stepped up my game and effectively learned to read a race and consistently put myself in the breaks and in the position to win. However, my finish is a different story. I can truthfully say that I own the 4th and 5th spot at Waterford…I don’t think any other rider has more 4ths and 5ths than me this season. I am not proud of this; it is simply a reflection that I have to develop an effective and highly potent finish.




On another note, I have to give credit where credit is due. I haven’t given out a W.C.I.F. award in awhile and one rider in particular has stuck out to me in the past two weeks. Two weeks ago, Bruce Rivera won out at Waterford; we were in a 6-man break and he out sprinted the group. (*It is worth noting that I flatted on the last lap after 2 hours of breakaway efforts, also, a pack of push pins were found in Bruce’s car after the race…hmmmmm.JK) At the time I thought it was a good win but he sat on the break the last 5-6 laps and did very little work, if any. However, this past Thursday was a different scenario. Bruce was required to race a very defensive race and cover several attacks and put his nose to the wind, all the while still managing to snap around us. So reluctantly I have to give Bruce Rivera, a member of a WSC nemesis team, this week’s W.C.I.F. award. So lets all raise our gratuitously (arguably gaudy) vinyl sticker adorned, Zipp equipped bikes to Bruce…although you are our nemesis, you are this week’s recipient of the W.C.I.F. award.