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NY cyclers dominate Cat 3 race
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BIKE RACE - The leaders draft down the straight away downtown Youngstown Sunday afternoon. - Special to The Vindicator/Nick Mays
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Jason Sweder from Boardman takes in The Tour of the Valley bicycling criterium in downtown Youngstown on Sunday afternoon. He was oneof many spectators who visited the downtown area to take in the annual cycling- stage event. The tour, which began Friday, was part of The Biggest Weekend of Summer celebration.
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BIKE RACE - Racers taking a turn at 30 mph downtown Youngstown Sunday afternoon. - Special to The Vindicator/Nick Mays
By John Bassetti
YOUNGSTOWN
Steven Wells arrived from Buffalo on Saturday night with a non-teammate, but they didn’t seem to mind sharing a car and the top two spots in Sunday’s Cat 3 Men’s criterium race during the Tour of the Valley.
Wells (Ingram Micro) rode in with Joseph Cook (FMB) and the two placed first and second.
“It’s a great feeling to come down here together and give a good representation from Western New York,” Wells said. “Our goal was to be 1-2, regardless of which one was first. We could go home and live with that.”
Wells, a 33-year-old lawyer, was involved in a crash early when a rider clipped a cone.
“Ironically, the same thing happened to me last week,” the muscular and bloody Wells said when a guy’s wheel came up and hit Wells’ handlebars. “That’s why I shave my arms and legs, because it’s easy to clean up.”
On Sunday, Wells went down and a rider went over top of him.
“We got up, put our chains back on, scooted to the starting line and got back in the race,” he said of getting a free lap.
“After that, I picked it up the last lap because my strength is sprinting,” he said. “I put myself in position, Joe [Cooke] gave me a great lead-out and we were able to take 1-2.”
Wells said of his lawyer/cycling mix: “I’ve got to do the job to buy bikes. These things aren’t cheap.”
Although Wells, Cooke and Peter Baughman (Lake Effect) were 1-2-3 Sunday, Lance Johnson, also of Buffalo, won overall.
“Criterium isn’t my specialty, so I was happy to stay safe,” Johnson said of his 13th place.
“I manage to avoid crashes by keeping my eyes open and having luck. You look for shady riders — guys doing shady things — but, on the second-to-last-lap you’ve got to be aggressive.”
O’Brien Forbes won the Masters criterium and was its overall winner.
He didn’t drop back farther than fifth during the race.
“I had to be careful not to let anybody go [too far ahead],” he said. “My strategy was to follow the back wheel of the man I’m marking. When I’m drafting someone, I save energy. I decided to follow people and let them set the pace and I’d just go from wheel to wheel and save everything for the end.” Because he was alone, the 46-year-old had to ride smart.
James Thompson’s specialty isn’t criterium, but he won Cat 4-5 Men overall.
A time trial netting 25 points and 31 points from the road race put him high enough to withstand his 19th place finish Sunday.
“I just made sure that neither of the guys who were second and third [overall] won, otherwise, they might have taken over,” the 21-year-old said of his first stage race.
Chris Nicula of Chagrin River Cycling won the Men 4-5 criterium.
Sally Price’s second wasn’t enough to overtake Gray Patton for the women’s overall crown.
“I needed her to not be so good,” Price said in explaining her only chance to overtake Patton,” the leader heading into Sunday’s race.
Even with Price’s teammate, Jane Evely, finishing first Sunday, the SummaCare pair couldn’t top the 24-year-old Patton, who was fifth overall in 2009. Patton did it without any National Velo teammate.
Evely was defending champ overall from 2009, when Emily Walling was second and Price third. On Sunday, both Evely and Price had 43:43.
Patton’s strategy was to defend first place.
“I knew she’d be going for time, so my strategy was to mark her.”
Overall, Patton’s 2:44.51 edged Price’s 2:44.59.