Paul "Upgrade Time" Rades saw a big field against him, a small team with him, and enough heat to wilt the all but the strongest of riders as an opportunity to prove that he is, in fact, the strongest of riders by solo'ing his way to a first place finish in the Masters 35+ 3/4 category at the Giro di Coppi. He said it felt especially good knowing that we were outnumbered by a few other teams but we still outgunned and outsmarted them."
Rades, an up-and-coming star of the GamJams GS squad, and fellow GamJams racer David "Not Contagious" Kirkpatrick had been a little slow on the draw for the pre-registration game and ended up joining forces to represent GamJams in the Masters' event instead of their normal GamJams Cat 3 Cup p/b Mountain Khakis event. This became an opportunity for Kirkpatrick to help the team in other ways. As he said, "my goal today was to help Paul get those last points he needs for an upgrade." And help he did. The duo covered moves and did what they could to keep the pace high and the pressure on. Kirkpatrick said that "we rode quite agressively for a long time to put the torpedo into the tube." But, when Rades finally launched, he "knew it was a done deal and it was so [clucking] much joy to watch it happen. The field had absolutely no answer for Paul's Kung Fu today."
Rades himself gave much of the credit right back to Kirkpatrick saying he "deserves much of the credit for driving the tempo during the first two laps, and countering a few attacks." Rades admits he "got bogged down early on, but eventually migrated to the front and started doing some work." From there it was only a matter of time until "Dave sent me off just before the start of the final circuit, and kept everyone else in check while I gradually opened up a gap. From there, I just hammered the climbs and backed off on the descents to give my legs and lungs a break. I also tried to stay out of sight by getting through the twisty sections quickly and maintain consistent gaps in the time checks to frustrate any chasers. I maybe went a bit too hard in some parts, but figured everyone else was probably tired and thirsty as well." It was the correct assumption as the rest of the tired and thirsty peloton came in for table scraps over a minute after Rades finished the main course.
It was a great outing for both parts of the GamJams Squad, the Cat 3's and the Gruppo Sportivo, and a great race to showcase the variety of talents on both teams. All who participated agreed that this is one of the better races on the MABRA circuit and wanted to make sure that Squadra Coppi knows it did a great job this year under some hot and trying conditions. While others in the peloton may be griping about stolen water bottles and those crazy yellow lines, Team GamJams just wants to say "thank you" to Squadra Coppi and everyone who came out. You supplied the venue, the race, and the competition. Rades supplied the guts to try and the strength to last.
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