Neil Shirley Diary Commerce Bank Triple Crown – Lehigh
6/4/08 - Today kicked off the Commerce Bank Triple Crown. This is one of the most prestigious and respected events on the US calendar. The race series goes back over 25 years. I believe Core States was the original sponsor then it was Wachovia Bank now it’s Commerce Bank. The 3 races are technically all one-day events but they do keep track of points for the top 20 of each race and give a nice $10,000 bonus to the overall winner.
Lehigh was a totally new venue this year. Lancaster had been the opening round for the last few years but somehow Lehigh stole the show. The course looked to be a relatively flat 7-mile circuit with a short but steep puncher of a climb 1 mile from the finish. We were on tap for 12 laps. It was a warm 85 degrees with the normal Philadelphia summer humidity. I was expecting the heat so I was extra mindful of my hydration the last few days, I even upped my salt intake yesterday.
Neil Shirley (Jittery Joes) takes time out to smile in Allentown.
photo © Vero Image
The competition level was going to be on par with past years. Having CSC, Highroad, Liquigas, Slipstream, Amore Vita, Tecos, Sparkasse, Symmetrics, and then all of the domestic pro teams it brought the field up to nearly 200 pro riders.
The Jittery Joe’s team-plan for the day was pretty simple, those of us “non sprinters” would cover the moves and hopefully make any break that might get away. We were pretty sure it would be coming down to a field sprint so we were protecting Cantwell and Stevenson for the finish. I was able to cover a couple of moves the first lap but after that I was just holding on wondering why we needed to ride at 30 mph. It was evident right away that leg speed was going to be my biggest limiting factor for the day. Trent Wilson went off the front with two others on the third lap but the speeds were just way to fast for such a small break to gain any real time.
About half way through the race there was a wreck as we approached the feed zone. A lot of riders went down at a relatively slow speed and one of those riders was Trent Wilson. I knew it wasn’t good when I heard that Trent abandoned the race. This guy has finished two Giro de Italia’s, he’s one tough Aussie (unless it’s raining)! Trent ended up breaking a bone in his hand and in his wrist. This will be a big blow to the team if he ends up having to skip the upcoming races. But, my guess is he’ll be doing Philly and Tour de Beauce with his cast on.
As guys were fading in the race, I was getting better. I had finally blown my legs out and was more and more comfortable with the speed. With Stevenson not feeling good all the attention went to helping Cantwell. On the final time up the steep roller I was able to come from around 60th place and slot into the top 20. I was hoping to be able to help Cantwell in the last mile but with a slight downhill finish and a tailwind it was a lot faster and more chaotic than I have the ability to handle. It got really crazy in the last 300 meters as the road narrowed I was being bumped and tossed around. Sprinters thrive on those situations where as I am a lot more conservative, if you want the wheel then please take it! I ended up in 20th place and luckily had all my skin left at the end of the day. I am hoping that this was just what I needed to get my legs opened up for the rest of the week.
Looking at the results it seems that I wasn’t the only one suffering early on. It’s always nice to know that the race really was hard, it wasn’t just me. I’ll be doing a mellow 2 hour ride with my teammates tomorrow and then enjoying an afternoon nap.
That’s it for now, check back Thursday for my journal on the second Triple Crown event in Reading, PA.
Thanks for reading,
