Garrattsville, NY — With a steady drizzle and temperatures in the low 40’s, six Salty Chimps set out towards the hilly terrain situated between Hamilton and Cooperstown.
Dave Tate, Scott Stewart, Fred Bulken, Dan Deemer, Rob Chimento, and Ben Rabin pushed the pace through the first climbs at the beginning of the race with all team members getting over the opening climbs together. A few opponents came along for the ride. On the back half of lap 1 the lead group was cooperating well and maintaining a fast pace. Before the last turn on lap one Tate launched an attack and created a gap that held for about a mile and a half but was then reeled in by Dan Esler (WNYBRC).
Going over the climbs at the beginning of lap two, Tate, Stewart, Bulken, and Tom Klaben (MSR Racing) set a blistering tempo, establishing some separation from the field. However, Klaben soon started to put some daylight between himself and the three Chimps.
Stewart, Bulken, and I regrouped and were only about 50m back. We decided that this was the race winning separation and that the three of us should let Klaben hang out in the wind for a while and not immediately jump back on his wheel… we wanted to let him burn some matches.
David Tate
Eventually Klaben decided enough was enough and went from soft pedaling to turning over the cranks for real. The three Chimps still thought they were within a safe working distance but the gap was slowly getting larger. Unfortunately, they had miscalculated how strong Klaben was riding this day.
If we had got back on his wheel at the top of the last long climb– we could have and I think he expected us to do– we might have been able to play some games attacking him, tiring him out for the uphill finish.
Fred Bulken
But the three Chimps working together could not close the gap and ultimately never had the opportunity to attack 3 on 1 against Klaben on the finishing climb and settled for 2nd and 3rd. Compared to previous editions of this race, the team showed up with much better form and the outlook for the season remains very optimistic.
We all are climbing well, at least in my opinion. I feel I have the fitness, just needed to push through to stay with the break.
Rob Chimento
If we play this scenario (3 against 1) out a dozen times we would probably choose to do the same thing. It changes, though, when we have a better understanding of the strength of our competition.
David Tate
We all raced well. Climbing, communication, effort, grit… it was all there. It was miserable but nobody complained. The hills were steep and nobody complained. We raced hard. The guys in the break made a tactical call and that’s important. Sometimes tactics don’t work… but making a decision and sticking with it mid-race is huge.
Dan Deemer
Tate and Bulken went on to finish strong for the team, holding off the rest of the field for 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. The remaining Chimps filled out the top 10 placings on the day.
