Even though it's been raining for most of a week straight, we didn't have a drop of rain on us at the Housatonic Hills road race, Sunday.

It wasn't like most previous races this season, where the winning breakaway separates early in the race. Instead, there were many little ones, all beginning with John Hanson's bold attack early in the first lap. He's feeling strong, and I was glad to have him up the road with two other riders.

He was out for miles, but they were eventually caught. Shortly after, I saw Jamey Driscoll go flying around a sharp uphill corner, and hoping to get into a break with him, I sprinted uphill to him, and then went by him and everyone else, and since it was a steep climb, I just kept up the pace figuring someone would bridge across to me. I was in luck: no one came across, and that turned out to be a boon, because around the next bend, the "King of the Mountain 200 meters" sign came into view. So I went full speed, took the KOM, and won a Rudy Project Helmet and shades for my troubles.

The rest of the race was: Attack. Ride hard. Get caught. Someone else attacks. Chase. Ride hard. Repeat. Nothing stuck. But a breakaway evolved.

With maybe 10 miles left in the 81 mile race, there were about 15 racers left in the lead. Allister from Bikereg went on a solo attack, and as a field, we mostly rode slowly for a while while he got a gap of about a minute. Then we went faster and faster. I led over the KOM climb as fast as I could, and Jamey Driscoll (Rock Racing) killed it, and did the work of eight people chasing him down, with Matt Purty (Spooky), Anders Newbury (Hot Tubes), and me lending some help.

As you can count, that's four out of the 14 working...and mostly Jamey. We caught Allister about 1.5 miles before the finish, and then it was cat-and-mouse all the way in. I timed my sprint well, but should've chosen to finish on the leeward side of the line, because rounding the bend up the hill to the line, I opened up a lane for Peter Hurst, who took the win. I got 2nd, so it's a good thing I have that KOM redeeming me :). You learn something at every race.

Kevin Wolfson, and Emerson Oronte finished high amongst the next group of finishers, with 20th and 24th respectively, and Hanson came to the line in 44th. All in all, a great day, and good practice for Fitchburg around the bend.