New Britain, CT
Mukunda reports:
Every year there are a couple of races well run races at this park, with the Nutmeg Classic being the first. The circuit around the park is a nicely paved road with no real corners to speak of and only a slight incline and a short, gentle descent. Sometimes the “hill” or the wind can break things up and keep it interesting, but mostly this race is a just fast.
The Nutmeg Crits always draw the top teams and riders from New York City and there this year was no exception. With a good field turnout and lots of money on the line and riders turned out in full force. With most of the Kenda/Raleigh squad racing in Ohio it was up to Colin Murphy and Mukunda Feldman to represent big yellow and try to one better the teams result from last year (2nd Chris Hrenko).
The heat of the summer day made the course hot but not unbearable. Despite the heat and coming off some recovery time from a crash, Colin Murphy got in a good warm up on his Blackburn trainer. The race was flat out from the start with the anticipation of the $100 prime laps making everyone jumpy. With forty laps of racing there was plenty of time to get used to taking gentle left hand turns and to take in the cricket match that always seems to be happening in the infield of the park.
With speeds that barely dropped below 30 miles an hours the race became a constant string of attack and counter attack with no one able to stick it for much more than a lap or two. With 15 to go Kenda/Raleigh’s own Mukunda Feldman jumped clear of the bunch in an effort to shake things up, but by 10 to go he was back in the fold. With the race winding down and the sprinters teams lining it up, Professional cyclist Chris Jones riding for Team Type 1 jumped away from the field with Nerac’s Ward Solar. The pair looked good to stay clear, until Rite Aid’s Robbie King responded on the final lap with Jake Keough in tow. The pair strung the field out into the final corner and at the line it was Keough who showed off his new Kelly Benefits colors and took the win.