Michael McGuire sent his race report from the Men’s D road race in Shippensburg last weekend. Thanks, Michael!

Michael’s report:

I was going good, warmed up on the trainer for 30 minutes. They combined the D1 and D2 fields so there were like 50-60 riders. The Referee asked, “Does everyone know what the centerline rule is?” A couple of people did not know so he explained in detail. We went off, the pace car was slow the first 1-2 K, and it was like an accordion, guys dancing on brakes, skids, etc. (one reason I want to move up to C). Anyway, we finally went and the tempo was OK. It was narrow farm roads but mostly with yellow lines.

As for riders, when there were 3 across the lane was blocked but 2 across was good and you could maneuver. Not a lot of way to advance except surgically, but I moved up from back third to middle on the first lap. There were some small hills but nothing significant enough to break it up and the guys in the front were setting an OK pace but not making any attacks to separate things. I made some more progress on the turns and small hills, picking people off. After the first lap I knew what I was dealing with and continued to obey the centerline rule but some [rule-flouting jerks] starting attacking over the line to advance. Same 4-6 guys, and they ended up in front but still no one attacked to try to get a separation.

So with about 5k, I literally said, “OK [weaklings],” and launched from like 10-15 back (riders were 2 across) and got out in front. I did not try to get separation which in hindsight was a mistake — I should have tried to get a small group to follow. Instead, I just led out front for a minute or three, not sure, then I let someone else pull and sat in and figured I would save it for an 800-Watt sprint finish.

At this point the guy in front was like, “three across,” the same guy that blocked during the crit by weaving left and right and slowing the pace. So I was in the 3^rd row of 3 at that point, in the middle. We were about 2k out and then at around 1k people got anxious and a couple of dudes crossed the centerline and came up in front of the guy in front of me (I was in the middle) and he swerved right and went into me. [Editor’s note: this is what happens when you combine D fields and don’t let them go up Horse Killer Road.] I elbowed him and was like a pinball machine — I bounced off a couple of the bikes I was between — and heard ping ping ping and then a big shake. My front wheel must have hit someone’s derailleur or skewer and I got shot out the left side of the group, and ended up down the road in front of a sign but still upright, with some broken spokes. If a car happened to be coming the other direction, I was dead for sure. I think we were going pretty fast — maybe 40 kph — it was on a slight downhill false flat. But my day was done with 1k to go. A follow car picked me up and saw the whole thing and said it was an ugly move [by those guys]. I reported it to the race official but the guy still placed and got points. I guess it is all part of bike racing!