Wilkesville Road Race

This was my second time racing at Wilkesville. The first time was in 2003 during my first year riding with Team Breakaway. I'll always remember this first race for 2 reasons: 1) our teammate Paul Aisel (shown here in Tri-Tech attire) dominated the Pro-2-3 race and won with a very strong performance and 2) Brother Jeff Jackson (aka "Jax" & "Mr. Chips") and I rode down to the race together in his old black Civic hatchback. Jeff and I go way back to our KA cycling days and it was fun road tripping with him to a race. I seem to remember the drive home from Wilkesville taking 4 hours because Jeff and I were both so toasted after the race. In reality I'm sure it only took the normal 2 hours.

Today I was flying solo without my Masters wing men since they decided to head south and dish out some pain in the OVR race. Tym combined the Ladies and the Masters fields. I can't remember the names of all the riders in our group but it included the Mighty Scott Young (just back from Georgia and riding strong!), David Berman from Team Louisville and Marjorie Parr (strong, smooth climber!) from Stark Velo. Our group raced really well together and everyone did their share of work at the front. There were a few jumps on the climbs that eventually thinned our group down to 4 riders and our group stayed together until the end. About 3 miles or so from the finish Scott accelerated off the front and the rest of us had to dig deep to get back on his wheel. Coming into town Scott launched a sprint off the front and I was able to come around him at the finish.

After our race the town of Wilkesville put on a pasta dinner which was free for all the racers. Dinner included pasta, sauce, breadsticks, salad, drinks and homemade desserts. The support Wilkesville provides for this race is outstanding and Tym did an awsome job with the course and the support. Each field of racers had a motorcycle to lead them through the race and every major corner was marshalled. Not only is Wilkesville an epic course with tons of challenging climbs, it is also one of the best supported races I have ever been in. Riders came from Kentucky and West Virginia to race at Wilkesville today. In the past the fields have been larger and I really hope more Ohio riders return next year to this classic Ohio road race.