51st Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic Stage Race Intro - 2009 ReCap

One year ago I travelled to Fitchburg, MA for the 50th Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic Stage Race with a confidence and swagger not completely different from General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The history of the race is laid out here on the Longsjo site. In short it is the second oldest race in America, dedicated to Art Longsjo - a winter and summer olympian in speed skating and cycling. In 1958 he died in an automobile accident returning from a race in Canada. His wife Terry and the community instituted this race as a lasting memorial to his memory and competitive spirit. In 1991 the famous Fitchburg-Longsjo Criterium became a stage race. The amount of community support from businesses, citizens, and New England racers is astounding. It is really a race that everyone should take part in - with people doing so, coming from multiple countries, states, and different languages being spoken.

What attracted me to the Longsjo Classic last year was its history (nearly all of the USA pros - past and present, male and female - have been to and succeeded at this event), it being a "climber's race (more on that later)," and most importantly a stage race that did not cater to pros (of which an impressive list attends each year) at the expense of the amateurs. It is a superbly run, inspiringly supported event that affords all categories a PRO like experience.

So, in 2009, fresh off my European campaign that consisted of the 2009 Gran Fondo del Prosecco, a circuit race in Sorga, VR,  and thundering through the whole 17th Stage of the Giro d'Italia with such fervor on Blockhaus that Italians on the climb could only utter "forte!" to each other as I stormed past them, or "piano!" as caution, I descended upon Fitchburg, MA for my first Longsjo. I also took my brother with me, who then 21 is and was not the embodiment of an elite amateur athlete as I, for soigneur and crew support (minus the massage) and hoping to inspire him to get into cycling...or at least shape.

I did a mediocre time trial in the coldishness and rain for stage 1. On stage 2 I lined up for the circuit race in Fitchburg with more promise as there was a small hill near the end. I was almost dropped at the end of the first circuit and proceeded to drop myself on the downhill during the second lap (in 2010 I saw that if you get dropped you will never catch back on on that slight downhill). Surely on stage three I would do well as it was the "climbers' stage." That was not to be either as I was nearly dropped on the first lap and dropped on the start of the second lap (the downhill). So embarassed was I that at the end of the first lap I told my brother (who was equipped with bottles to hand to me for the 3 hour race) to meet me at the car my next time by - I wanted to pull off the course before I got to the crowd. Destroyed from being on form in Italy, almost a month passing before Fitchburg, and trying to stay in form that long, I was devastated after such a poor performance. Having abandoned on stage 3, I couldn't compete in the stage 4 criterium and my Longsjo was unceremoniously over.

Suffice to say I did not impress my brother although he was supportive. What followed was a month of trying to recover, poor performances, and even going to a doctor to make sure I wasn't sick. With that, I headed back to Fitchburg, MA for the 2010 51st Annual Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic Stage Race to redeem myself.