Nashua, NH

The Gate City Cyclone Criterium returned to the racing calendar last year after a long hiatus, and it was a welcome re-addition to the summer. The 0.75-mile course winds around Nashua’s Holman Stadium and features a corner and a chicane and some gentler turns. There’s also a slight climb each lap which begins to burn the legs toward the end.

Colin, Adam, Eric, and Jason Beerman converged on Nashua on a beautiful Saturday. With $1,500 on the line and a gorgeous day, the pre-registration list of 18 ballooned to a full 75-man field, with all the day-of registrations. With New England legend Dick Ring in attendance, Kenda/Raleigh wanted to put on a good show.

The pace was fast from the gun, and a few laps in, Jason countered a move and went away solo for a few laps, scooping up some primes along the way. He was brought back and Toby countered, followed by Eric. Eric’s move was a good one, with representation from every team except Team Fuji (AKA the McCormack family). Jason liked the combination and bridged up so there were 2 Kenda/Raleighs up the road. Colin and Toby sat in and conserved, ready to counter in case things came back.

The group of 7 had a consistent gap of 30 seconds until Fuji started to drill it on the front of the field, bringing the gap down to a tantalizing 15 seconds. The front 7 sensed the danger and took big boy pulls to get it up to 30 seconds again, demoralizing the chase. Eric and Jason took their pulls and the group worked smoothly, except for a couple times when personal greed for primes temporarily broke the alliance.

With 3 to go, the pace picked up all around, as the break didn’t want their hard work to go for naught. It had been a long day up front though, and everyone’s legs were cooked, so late attacks were half-hearted and it came down to a group sprint. Eric displayed his sprinter’s prowess and just missed the top step, and Jason brought up the rear of the group. Full results are here.