The Clam Fest Circuit race in Yarmouth, ME is one of our favorite races of the year, and we always pull out all the stops to have a good showing there. Why such a good race? Well, it’s a true circuit race – a short but technical 3.5 mile course with a bunch of 90 degree corners, a stiff little uphill and a sweeping downhill finish right in front of Yarmouth town center. One part crit, one part road race and always fast, it’s a race that plays to our strengths as a team and it’s always a thrill to ride in front of a large, cheering crowd. Last year, we had great results, with Bradshaw taking a painfully close second place and Jay scooping up a bunch of primes, so this year we were intent on building on this success.
We needed to make sure we had riders in the many breaks that were likely to happen and also to control the front end of the race and keep the pace as high as possible. Kyle found himself in an early move that lasted a couple of the 10 laps. Just as his breakaway came back to the field, James attacked to take one of the few primes on offer. A couple laps later, Colin, who was diligently patrolling the front of the field set James up for another big money prime.
By the halfway mark, it was clear we were stamping our authority on the race, just as we had wanted.
Then Dylan McNicholas of the CCB team launched a vicious solo attack. Dylan is one of the strongest and winningest bike racers in New England and his attack was nothing to take lightly. Jurgen mobilized and launched an attack of his own to hunt Dylan down. He went off the front with 6 other riders and within a lap had caught Dylan and solidified a seven man break that established and held an advantage of about 20 seconds over the field.
We were content to have Jurgen in the break – he’s a strong and aggressive rider and we knew he could pull off a good result. At the same time, we knew that Dylan would be all but impossible to beat in a sprint, especially since Dylan had a teammate with him in the break to perform lead-out duties. Up in the break, Jurgen knew this too and started devising tactics he could employ to get the better of Dylan and his other breakaway companions.
On the final lap, comfortable with their time-gap on the field, the seven guys in the break started attacking each other. Dylan launched and was brought back. Jurgen knew that the window of opportunity was open and immediately countered with an attack of his own. With about 2k to go in the race, Jurgen decided to go it alone, down a long, gradual decent into the course’s steep final climb, and down the finishing straight to the finish in front of Yarmouth town hall. His gamble paid off in a huge way as he was able to gap the chasing breakaway and maintain this gap through the finish.
A colossal two minute effort by Jurgen and a much-deserved huge win for the local guy and for the team.
Meanwhile, back in the field the team set up for the sprint finish and the remaining placings available. Colin took third and Bradshaw forth in the field sprint just behind Jonathan Page of Planet Bike and Chandler Delinks of CCB; good enough for 10th and 11th on the day.
Jurgen, the newest edition to team Embrocation, brought home the goods. Everyone on the team was ecstatic with the result.
And then, as is our custom, we ate…
(A special thanks to Don and Dana McEwan for being such great fans of the team and allowing us to use their photographs.)
The elite amateur team sponsored by Embrocation Cycling Journal, International Bicycle Center and Mad Alchemy Embrocations. With contingents of racers in New England and the Pacific Northwest, Team Embrocation races road, cross and mountain throughout the US and a little bit beyond sometimes. Now entering their second season, the team features a deep and diverse roster.
