I won the 55-59 year old bracket by getting blown out the back of the peloton on the final lap. OK that will require some explanation. Here’s the story……

The race was run on a 13 mile loop just west of Georgetown Ohio. Masters races from all over Ohio showed up to contest age brackets from 30 to 70+ (men & women). The racers in the men’s 50 to 70 + ran as one group, with around 50 starting the event.

Lap 1 was going smoothly until the group hit the short fast descent and the subsequent quick left that started the uphill. A few bikes behind me I heard the all too familiar sound of metal hitting pavement, at near 40 MPH. – NASTY!! We took it easy for the rest of the lap and the group came back together.
The pace picked up at the Start / Finish and we flew toward the half way descent again. Ambulances clogged the road and the race was stopped for couple minutes. Just before that point I was in a break of 10+ that was a hundred yards up the road. So were all back together again. Pace was good for the rest of lap 2 and no big moves on the 2 short hills in the final 3 miles of the lap.
Lap 3 was fast and we had a small break at a sharp right hand turn…just before the descent where the remains of the accident were being cleaned up. (The women racers had a crash here also). The uphill spit me out the back by 100 feet. The legs were fried and I gave it my all to try to regain the peloton. Back to 50 feet away but the legs were screaming. There was just not enough power left to catch the group and after hanging just off the back for a mile or 2, they took off and I fell back. At this point I was thinking there were about 2-3 in my age bracket up with the lead group. Maybe Bronze?? Another 2 riders fell off and I was slowly working to catch them. Caught the first about 3 miles later, he is IN my bracket. Just then we climbed up a really short uphill and saw the remnants of 5 riders who came together and went down. I’m thinking, riders are getting tired, keep focused. What I didn’t know was that the only rider with the leaders in my age bracket was IN that crash. The one I caught worked with me for the last mile and we tried to catch the other rider in front of us but, to no avail. Last corner and 300 yards to go, I gas it and give it everything I have left. I put one behind me but didn’t catch the other. I placed 16th over all in the 50-60-70+ bracket and 9th in the 50-59 age group.
The results get printed and I see no one in the 55-59 bracket in front of me, could it be? I wait for the prelims to get reviewed and realize I am getting called to the podium! Podium time for my age group and they call 3rd, then 2nd, then —- Ohio State Masters 55-59 Champion is…..David Duerk. Top Spot on the Podium!!!!

WOW!!! Jane was taking pics but was shaking sooo much, we’ll see what turns out.
It was a near religious experience. State Champ, me. WOW!!!Our friends Glenn and Lori were there to watch the event. They must be good luck!

The carnage from the accidents were treated or transported to hospitals. I hope they all have a speedy recovery, and that the injuries are minor. What an end to the 2010 road race season!!

Great finish to the 2010 road race season for me!!!!

I deciding to put myself to the test this week, put together three race
efforts in four days. Thurs I loaded my TT bike up with my full aero
arsenal. Those who were there know the wind was rough, as I averaged
24.2mph going out, but 27.8 on the return trip! I thought Mick put
together a particularly good effort riding “Eddy Merckx” style.

Yesterday I headed over to Indiana for my second year in a row at the
Warsaw Downtown Crit. I raced Cat 4/5, 45 minutes over a .4 mile loop in
the center of town. Pace was a solid 25+ avg from the start, with no real
breakaways happening. I had decided to go for primes but found myself out
of position 15 riders back when the first one hit just two laps in.

The second prime hit about 8 minutes later and I was positioned in the top
five ready to go. The one moderately trick part of the course was the
second to last corner (about 300m out) where there was a manhole cover
four feet outside the corner and forces a tight line over some rough road.
As I moved up the outside I found myself on the outside line, which made
me travel a little farther, but gave me a better angle and much more speed
heading into the final turn. End result was a pretty easy prime, but
about four lengths.

The third (and final) prime came and went with a similar result, and I
felt like I had figured out a good plan for the finish. As we headed into
the last three laps I held my position in the top five as a series of
attacks went off. I’m not quite sure what happened, but in covering one
of the breaks a Fort Wayne outfitters guy and I ended up 50m off the
front, with a lap to go. He was leading out and I was feeling good. He
took the tight line, and really held tight, I went wide… perhaps two
wide and gave him about two lengths heading into the last 150m, I closed
hard, but found myself spinning up and came up 3/4 of a length short. I
was very pleased with my result, but wondering “what if”.

This AM I got up bright and early and headed towards Toledo for the
Sylvania Sprint Tri (500m/14m/5k). Sam and Norm were competing as well
and the AM conditions couldn’t have been much nicer. We were in the
second wave and they actually had some form of cannon to send us off.

I had an excellent start and hung just off the leader, while Sam sucked my
draft to the first buoy. I hit the shore 2nd in my wave and by the time
we hit the transition area I was in the lead. As I got out on the bike I
felt great, with no ill effects of the previous days events.

There was just a little wind on the way out, which made the return trip
home very nice. I came into T2 first in my wave, but with just two guys
left out front from the first wave. I was definitely surprised at how
good I felt and road 29:56 for the 13 mile leg, fastest in the race.
Sammy was still hanging close, only about three minutes down.

The race got interesting on the run, as I caught the first guy from the
wave ahead, and we started a good back-and-forth. At the first
turn-around I got concerned with another guy from my wave only about 45
seconds back. I kept on the gas and started thinking I might have a shot
at the win.

By the second turn-around I still head a little less than 30 seconds, but
felt more confident I could pull this one off. I was checking back every
1/4 mile or so and I was slowly getting reeled in… but still slowly. I
held strong to the finish and earned a victory by nine seconds.

Sam celebrated his birthday with a top-10 finish, eighth overall and
second in his age-group. Norm made the awards stand as well, with a
fourth in the 60-64 men’s, for a Team Defiance Triple Treat!

On a side note, we recruited a couple more local guys to Team Defiance,
Ian Alvarez and Seth Bidlack. Seth is one of my runners at DC, but I’m
building him a TT bike and he’ll be on the tri-scene next summer. Ian’s a
local a few of you probably already no, but Sam, Ian, Norm and I discussed
plans for fall track/ XC workouts geared toward a Thankgiving race.

Looking forward to next year, more teammates, more racing together and
more fun!

I headed up to the Tour de Gaslight Criterium on Sunday, for my second time in as many years. The E. Grand Rapids race serves at the Michigan State Criterium Championships and the super-fast, wide-open course, over ¾ of a mile, is well suited for speedy racing.

Just two weeks after my best weekend of racing in years, I was looking forward to a better result than my 9th place in ’09… one spot outside of the money. My prep wasn’t the best, with my cross country team returning on Wednesday, but it’s a bike race, so you don’t have to feel great, just be there at the end… right?!? Race went out fast, but manageable, and I wallowed in the middle of the pack for the first few laps, then took a “free ride” to the front just as the bell rang for a prime lap. A few guys were keeping the pace solid, and I set-up perfectly, second wheel, as we went around the last corner. Unfortunately, my my legs felt like led and my poor preparation came back to haunt me, as I was unable to come around my lead-outs wheel.

At that point, I just focused on getting to the finish in good position, even passing on a sure prime with two laps to go. I held solid in the top 3-5 for the last few laps, but the wide sweeping last turn caused a “swamping” that had me stuck w/ 300m to go. As we came around the last corner I put in my final effort, and did more passing that getting passed. Eighth seemed alot better than ninth last year and at least I finished in the money.
John Hartpence

John Hartpence, Larry Wagner, and I (Dave Duerk) went to Woodburn for the Indiana Road Champ race, Sunday July 25th . Larry is celebrating his 60th birthday at the race. That’s correct 60 and going racing, Way to go Larry!!! The weather as we drove over was 70ish and light showers or mist, roads were wet. The showers were on and off for the entire race, it felt more like a Roubaix style race with the wet road conditions and a mile or 2 of road with finely ground stone or sand on it. The rest of the roads were in great condition but quite slippery in spots.
3 laps of 14 miles each for 42 total miles, for the Cat 4/5’s.

Due to an error on our part we started the race at the back. John took advantage of the paved berm at the start, and sprinted up the right to be in the front of the pack at the GO. Larry and I started from the rear and got stuck there for a while. After a few turns in the course I managed to move up to about 30th, John was near the front, Larry at the rear. Pace was decent around 24-26. Larry fell off the back at the half way turn and worked with other riders to finish.
Lap 1 and all is well. Legs feel great, race is going well. Looking good for John, he is riding in the front 4-7 riders, and looks like he is ready for the sprint at the end (lap 3) but, a moment’s inattention on a left hand corner sent him sliding across the pavement. By the time he “dusted” off and re mounted the peloton was a few hundred yards up the road. He time trialed to the start finish line but was not gaining much on the group, so called it a day at that point.
A couple hundred yards after John’s spill 2 lead riders got tangled up and went down, I missed them all and joined a group of 8 in the lead. We should have organized quickly and split off the main group, but that did not happen. In the next 2 miles it all came back together again.
Lap 3, and the pace quickened, 29 MPH down the front straight, a quick mile south, then the return 5 miles to the finish straight. Final corner and 1.5 to go. A burst out of the corner and then everyone was together and bunched up all across the road. Pace slowed for a minute at 1K to go. I was near the back of the group of 25 and it was all bottled up at the front. I look up the finish straight and see a semi pulling out from a cross street, WHAT??? Some small openings and I moved up a few. 200 yards to go and the sprint finally takes off. The truck managed to get off the course, a gap on the left and I was there, cranking, looking for the next opening, there it is, 50 yards to go.
13th place, out of 57 starters.
My first time ever to be part of the payout. It was not a windfall but the reward was sweet!
Thanks go to the “Men of Steel Racing” from Fort Wayne for hosting a fine event.