Virgil, NY — Not satisfied with standing on only one podium this weekend, the team sent a small squad to Virgil, NY to participate in the 40th edition of the Hollenbeck’s Spring Classic road race. Ben Rabin, Jon Cyganick, Patrick McNeil and Ken Hammond all entered the men’s category 4/5 race, racing just one lap of 22 miles.
The goal this year was the same as last, to get Ken on the podium. Last year we had a good result but missed out on the top 3. This year with one more teammate [Jon], I knew we had an advantage going in. The weather was typical for the race, rain.
Patrick McNeil
Before going out for a warm up ride, Hammond noticed that his rear tire had been shredded down to threads from the crash he was caught up in at Brinkerhoff earlier this season. With minutes to spare, Rob Shostack of team Bike Loft East offered a spare wheel, saving his day.
The race started out fairly controlled with team Beer Tree leading the way into the first climb. The tempo on the way up was brisk enough to drop some riders but steady overall and no one was allowed to get away, even after hammering over the top. Rain began to shower the riders as they made their descent through the middle section of the course.
Rabin was an all-star. Ben and Pat did a lot of work for Ken and I in the early stages. There were a lot of the attacks from the Beer Tree guys, who were pretty enjoyable to race against.
Jon Cyganick
In the middle section of the course, an attack by the Cornell Cycling Team was let go for a short while and slowly reeled in by the group, led by McNeil, catching up with only meters to go to the second climb, known to racers as “The Wall”. The sharp climb splintered the lead group, shedding McNeil off the back of the bunch. Over the top, the pace picked up as racers came back into town. Rabin, Cyganick, and Hammond stuck to the plan.
The amazing faith and trust in teamwork makes me so happy. Coming around the final turn, about 400 yards before the climb starts, I let a huge gap open up. Nobody panicked, and nobody thought ‘Rabin is going to blow this race for me!’ Instead, we started a sprint train and blew past the first and second place guys.
Ben Rabin
Led out in the final run by Rabin, Cyganick pedaled to victory up the ultimate, agonizing climb to secure the top spot on the podium, with Hammond taking 3rd place and accomplishing the team’s goal for the day. The Salty Chimps plan on returning to the race next year, to defend their podium spots and gorge themselves on more of Hollenbeck Cider Mill’s freshly made donuts.
