SoYoCo Circuit Race

Joe Siegel and Andrew Stroup headed up to Brogue, PA for the SoYoCo Circuit Race on Saturday. The weather was cold and like most races in middle PA, they were surrounded by rolling hills and Amish country.

The course consisted of two 90 degree turns right after downhill sections, followed by a mile long false flat and then a solid, short kicker right before the finish line. Increasing the difficulty, there were multiple patches of gravel and dirt all throughout the course.

Joe and Andrew were in the Cat 5 race, totaling 15 miles. During the second turn on the first lap, a wreck between two racers split the group in half, leaving 8-10 racers, including Andrew, in the back, chasing after the lead group, where Joe maintained his position, along with 15 others. Unfortunately, Andrew was having shifting problems, unable to downshift leaving him dropped and left to suffer in an unfavorable gear combination throughout the climbs.

Joe continued on with the lead group, where 2 guys made a break right before the last lap. Trying to motivate a chase, none of the other riders wanted to budge or had the legs to form a chase, leaving Joe at the front and no one to follow suit. Realizing that many of the racers in his group were in the same team as the two in the breakaway, a chase group was futile, so he laid the power down, threw down a solid attack a quarter of the way up the final kicker, leading the group by ~10m, and holding his position for a clear third place finish.

Joe's third place finish at the Cat 5 SoYoCo Circuit Race

Congratulations to Joe on his solid 3rd place finish and to both of them for priming their legs for the Carl Dolan the following day