Kent Park 2012: Operation Anti-Fluffer

This picture sums up my race... Bret Bohanan and me rolling up the start/finish trying to create a break-away.

I had a very enjoyable race experience at the Annual Kent Park Spring Classic.  I was hoping to cap off a great week of training with a hard race experience against some strong Iowa Cat 1,2 racers, and that mission was accomplished.

About 20 competitors lined up in the Cat 1,2 field to complete 6 laps of a 24 mile circuit that includes lots of rolling hills and a very steep start/finish  hill.

I was representing half of our American Equity Team, accompanied by teammate Paul Deninger.  Paul wasn't feeling that he had good legs that day, so he offered to help me get into a break... hence OPERATION ANTI-FLUFFER was born.

The plan was for Paul to "soften up the field" at a very strategic point during the circuit...  Once I felt the group was soft enough, I would attack up a subsequent hill, get a gap, wait for company, then roll out a break-away group.  I don't really get too excited about the concept of field sprints, so a breakaway was my best shot at success.

Heading up the Start/Finish at Kent Park.

The name for our plan is based on the fact that a "Fluffer" is a slang term used in the pornographic industry to describe a person in charge of keeping the male actors "Hard" between takes.  So, Paul was doing the opposite of that (Anti-fluffing the field = Softening up the field)... A similar effect happens when one thinks about baseball, or dead kittens while engaging in intimate relations... this is supposed to extend the experience for those who might have endurance issues.

The operation was executed to perfection on the second attempt, towards the end of the race... I was joined by a Dogfish guy named Brett, who had proved that he was in excellent shape... unfortunately, the Zealous teammate (Lane Anderson) that joined us wasn't quite able to contribute to the effort initially (spent from the effort to make the bridge), and there were still several teams unrepresented in the break... namely Bikes2You.  Derek Cassady (Bikes2You) attempted to bridge up.  Had he made it, this would probably be an entirely different report, as I would have finished no worse than 4th.  However, he didn't make it, and the field brought as back within couple of miles. There were just too many teams still able to chase...they weren't "Soft" enough.

Dang, that was about all she wrote for me...  After we were caught I had some free time to come up with the "Anti-fluffer" blog concept.  I pre-write most of my reports during the race itself.  In this case, I sort of lost interest in the event when it was apparent that this was going to be a field sprint finale, so decided to start working on my report.

Coming around to the second part of the last lap, the field sprint was looming.  I heard someone say they were backing off to avoid the chaos about to unfold (probably from another field, as most of the Cat 1,2's don't back down from a sprint).  I took one last shot at getting a gap when Ryan French (Zealous Racing) attacked prior to the last downhill section.  I couldn't quite catch him and wasted myself trying. This race only really acknowledges the first place finisher, which didn't seem likely for me in this situation. So,  I dialed it back and decided to get a good view of the final two turns as I was pretty sure someone was going to wipe out.  Sure enough Kurt Hantleman (Thrive Racing) went down as he reacted to some braking/wheel slippage.  (He was alright, thankfully, just some road rash and torn shorts). With that out of the way, I navigated to the last uphill and tried to maintain my placing.

I really did enjoy the race.  I am not sure if I am supposed to have so much fun when I don't technically attain "Success", but I do... and I can't see any reason to try and make the experience a negative one.  My definition of winning might be different than others, and it is evolving as I mature.  The guys who showed up were in great shape and very skilled racers.  I am happy that I was able to be competitive amongst such a talented field of Midwest athletes:

RESULTS - Cat 1,2 - Kent Park, - March 25th, 2012

1) Kevin Temple - Bikes to You

2) Mariusz Czarnomski - ICCC

3) Bret Bohanan - Dogfish Racing

4)Jim Cochran - Atlas

5)Lane Anderson - Zealous Racing

6) Steven Robinson - Zealous Racing

7) Derek Cassaday - Bikes to You

8) Paul Deninger - American Equity Racing

9) Daniel Galles - ICCC

10) Joe Hetrick - ICCC

11) Chad Bishop - American Equity Racing

12) Bryan Moritz - World of Bikes

13) Jared Osterlon - Thrive

14) Ryan French - Zealous Racing

15) Jerome Rewerts - Zealous Racing

16) Kurt Hantlemann - Thrive

17) Lee Venteicher 1- Bikes to You

18) Chad Vandelune  - Thrive

19) Will Greenwood  - Bikes to You