| Assuming it's the same course as last year (through N.Andover,
Georgetown,Boxford), stay up front. I know that's what they say
to do every time, but last year there seemed to be alot of crashes.
I started near the back and it took forever to work my way up front
and I was lucky to do so. Watchout for the first good hill and
when crossing the bridge over 495 (both times).
I think it's about 25 miles long, with lots of rolling hills. It's
a pretty course, but last year the pace was too blistering to notice
anything but lactic acid buildup!
There is one big downhill that you can get some serious speed on
(assuming you have an aero seatpost ;-)), but there's a sharp right
turn at the bottom. I, of course, went straight with a bunch of
others who missed the turn too. Actually it was pretty comical
to see a bunch of people sprinting through the supermarket parking
lot trying to catch the leaders.
The finish sneaks up on you. The road is pretty level and then
all of a sudden you roll into the town square past some sort of
a monument, with the finish line right ahead. If you're not at
the front now there's no time to move up. At least that's how it
looked from the middle of the pack.
Good luck and have fun!
Dave
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