AUBURN — The Maine Cycling Club wasn’t about to let a few (hundred thousand?) raindrops get in the way of a good time.

Windham’s Ron Bourgoin was thankful for that.

Bourgoin sped off at the front of the pack of the 45-plus masters race at the annual Great Falls Criterium on Sunday in downtown Auburn, took the early hill charging and never looked back. He led wire to wire and nearly lapped the field as he finished 20 turns around the mile-long course in fewer than 35 minutes.

“I did think earlier today that maybe I’d just stay home because of the rain,” Bourgoin said. “And it looks like a lot of people did, which is too bad because it’s such a great event. The course sets up great, and it’s a fun track.”

Bourgoin left little doubt about his love for the track early in the race.

“He attacked it right on the hill at the start,” Lewiston’s John Grenier, operator of Rainbow Bicycles in Auburn, said. “We all looked at each other and let him go, thinking, ‘Ah, we’ll catch him.’ And we weren’t dilly-dallying, either, and he just kept getting further ahead.”

“I was going to try to go hard there and get away,” Bourgoin said. “There’s nothing like doing that, though, and getting caught with five laps to go, so luckily I was able to hang onto it. I had to go hard early, and then settle in.”

The race started with approximately 10 racers, and five finished after a couple of blown tires and some fatigue.

Turnout for the annual event was expectedly lower due to the weather, but one thing the rain didn’t do was cause many on-course problems.

Early in the day, steady precipitation fell and made it tough to see and cyclists reached top speed going down Elm Street and turned onto Main Street toward Court Street.

Conditions turned more favorable in the middle part of the race day, but enough rain had fallen to soak the roads on the course.

“I was worried about the lines if they’d painted them, because those can get slick,” Bourgoin said. “The first couple of laps, I was worried about (the corner of Main and Court streets), but I didn’t slip the first couple of times and other than that it was fine. I felt like it was very safe out there.”

At least, Grenier said, the rain followed rain, and not days of hot sun.

“It would have been worse had there been a lot of sun leading up to it, because the rain would have brought out the oil from the ground, and it would have been slick,” Grenier said.

The bigger problem for some riders Sunday were the scattered few potholes along the course that have formed on the roads. There aren’t many, but some of the racers found them.

One rider, James Bolognani of New Hampshire, caught one at the base of Turn 3, near the intersection of Elm and Main streets, lost control, fell and skidded on the pavement during a late-morning Category 3 race. He trudged back to the start-finish line in front of Auburn Hall with a bandaged and blooded leg, a bleeding arm and torn bicycle shorts near his hip.

“I was up like this, and the next thing I know I’m losing it,” Bolognani told some of his friends as he reached the start area.

Two riders in the 45-plus masters race, the race Bourgoin won, had to take the long walk back to the start after blowing a rear tire on the course.

After a brief respite from the conditions in the middle part of the day, the hardest rain of the day hit Auburn just as the two pro races — one each for women and men — began. Just six racers finished the women’s run, while only 15 began the men’s race, and barely two-thirds of them finished.

Great Falls Criterium

Master 55+ (I-V) 20 Miles 7 Starters

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
1	7	0:38:57	Graydon Stevens	OA/Cyclemania
2	4	0:00:48	Karl Hambrecht	CCB International	West Newbury, Mass.
3	9	0:01:06	John Liston	OA/Cyclemania	North Yarmouth, Maine
4	2	St	Alan Cunningham	CMCC P/B Insight	WinsIow, Maine
5	5	Lap	Wayne Larochelle	OA/Cyclemania	Ocean Park, Maine
6	3	Lap	Jim Dowling	Maine Cycling Club	Buckfield, Maine
7	8	Lap	John Poirier	CMCC P/B Insight	Oakland, Maine

Cat 5 Men 20 Miles 15 Starters

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
1	151	0:36:51	Bret Bedard		Cheshire, Mass.
2	158	0:00:10	Doug Kennedy	Minuteman Road Club	Marlborough, Mass.
3	156	0:00:12	William James	Bikeman.com	Bath, Maine
4	163	Lap	Neal Coughlin	Maine Cycling Club	Lewiston, Maine
5	165	Lap	Sean Sauigarno	Maine Cycling Club
6	162	Lap	David Kell Maine	Cycling Club	Lewiston, Maine
7	157	Lap	John Karod		Rockport, Maine
8	164	Lap	Joseph Parent	Bikeman.com	Portland, Maine
9	160	Lap	Charles Luke		Brunswick, Maine
10	150	Lap	Charles Barilla		Campton, N.H.
11	159	Lap	Jeff King	Moretown, Vt.
12	154	Lap	Steve Giguere	Noreast Cycling	Dover, N.H.
13	155	Lap	David Jaffe	Sunapee Racing Team	Bow, N.H.
14	161	Lap	Michael Riddle		Denver Colo.
15	153	0:00:00	David Cully	Colorado College	Westford, Mass.

Cat 4 Men 20 Miles 27 Starters

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
1	429	0:31:55	Daniel Guiney
2	402	St	Jeffrey Bramhall	Threshold Cycling	Watertown, Mass.
3	424	0:00:08	Conor Walsh	Cycle Loft Velo	Carlisle, Mass.
4	403	St	Alejandro Cifuentes	CLR Racing	Stonington, Conn.
5	400	St	Steven Bedard	Sunapee	Durham, N.H.
6	406	St	Christopher Darling	Portland Velo Club	Lovell, Maine
7	404	St	Andrew Clemence	Sunapee Racing Team	Durham, N.H.
8	422	St	Taylor Schwartz	Tufts University	Manchester, Maine
9	428	St	Shane Macpowell
10	412	St	James Johnson	CMCC P/B Insight	Hallowell, Maine
11	410	St	Jeff Hershberger	Bikeman.com / Mahoosuc Timberframe	Greenwood, Maine
12	401	St	Mark Bernard	Hup United	Leominster, Mass.
13	405	St	Connor Cushman	Zum Velo	Portland, Maine
14	411	St	Darrell Hoy	Sweetopenroads.com P/B The Bike Hu-	Freeport, Maine
15	413	St	Chris Jordan	Colavita Racing, Inc.	Windham, Maine
16	418	St	Duncan Masland	Bowdoin College	Brunswick, Maine
17	409	St	Kevin Hays	OA/Cyclemania	Brookline, Mass.
18	425	St	Lee Wassilie	Wheelpowerbicycle.com	Portsmouth, N.H.
19	423	St	Liam Somers	Colavita Racing, Inc.	Saco, Maine
20	416	St	Benjamin Kramer	Sunapee Racing Team	Bow, N.H.
21	265	Lap	Karla Labbe	Stage5 Cycling	Newton, Mass.

Cat 3 Men 20 Miles 14 Starters

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
1	313	0:35:06	Aaron Ross	Team MMRW/Landry’s Bicycles	Norwood, Mass.
2	310	St	Steven Lehmann	Sunapee/Continental Paving/Revolution Cyclery	Weare, N.H.
3	304	St	Ron Dunn	CMCC P/B Insight	Vassalboro, Maine
4	303	Lap	Paul Denis	CMCC P/B Insight	Fairfield, Maine
5	309	Lap	Joshua Lehmann	Sunapee/Continental Paving/Revolution Cyclery	Weare, N.H.
6	305	Lap	Matthew Griswold	B2C2 P/B Boloco	Boston, Mass.
7	317	Lap	Anthony Giguere	CMCC P/B Insight	Winslow, Maine
8	108	Lap	Craig Keasler	Green Line Velo	Allston, Mass.
9	316	Lap	Patrick Barter	Unattached	Wilder, Vt.
10	319	Lap	Ryan Littlefied	Southern Maine Cycling Club	Scarboough, Maine
11	300	Lap	Damian Bolduc		South Burlington, Vt.

Master 45+ (I-IV) 20 Miles 13 Starters

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
	732	0:34:45	Ron Bourgoin	OA/Cyclemania	Windham, Maine
2	735	0:01:33	Leo Devellian	CCB Racing	Topsfield, Mass.
3	747	St	Joseph Rano	Gear Works/Spin Arts	Oxford, Mass.
4	738	St	Jeffrey Fisher	OA/Cyclemania	Durham, Maine
5	746	St	Eric Pearce	Cyclonauts Racers	Chelmsford, Mass.

Master 35+ (I-IV) 20 Miles 19 Starters

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
1	521	0:34:02	Ciaran Mangan	CCB Racing	Brighton, Mass.
2	514	St	Paul Richard	CCB Racing	Amesbury, Mass.
3	517	St	Sean Steady	OA/Cyclemania	South Portland, Maine
4	503	St	Ron Colavolpe	OA/Cyclemania	North Yarmouth, Maine
5	525	St	J. Alain Ferry	Team Racemenu/ Mix 1	Boston, Mass.
6	513	St	Eric Pearce	Cyclonauts Racers	Chelmsford, Mass.
7	520	St	Eric Weinrich	OA/Cyclemania	Yarmouth, Maine
8	523	St	Joseph Lynch	OA/Cyclemania	Windham, Maine
9	518	St	Fred Thomas OA/Cyclemania	Cape Elizabeth, Maine
10	522	St	David Gray	Unattached	Dover, N.H.
11	524	St	Paul S. Connor	Unattached	Dedham, Maine
12	504	St	Leo Devellian	CCB Racing	Topsfield, Mass.

Women Open 1/2/3/4 20 Miles 10 Starters

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
1	258	0:34:02	Debony Diehl	Sunapee Racing Team	Jackson, N.H.
2	269	0:1:30	Kendra Jarratt	Sunapee/Continental Paving/Revolution
	262	St	Danielle Ruane	Sunapee/Continental Paving/Revolution	Webster, N.H.
4	264	0:01:36	Kimberly Zubris	Team Racenienu/Mix 1	Boston, Mass.
5	266	St	Frances Morrison	Wheelhouse/NCC Cycling Team	East Hampton, Mass.
6	259	Lap	Anna Eisenstein	Team Racemenu/Mix 1	Boston, Mass.
7	268	Lap	Karla Labbe	Stage5 Cycling	Newton, Mass.

Pro 1/2/3 Men 35 Miles 15 Starters

Place	Bib	Time	Name	Team	City, State
1	784	1:01:52	Thom Coupe	Bikereg.com – Cannondale
2	797	0:01:30	Jeremy Durrin	Wheelhouse/NCC	Fitchburg, Mass.
3	798	Lap	Alec Donahue	Wheelhouse/NCC	East Hampton, Mass.
4	796	Lap	Trevor Eide	Sweetopenroads.com P/B The Bike Hub	White River Junction, Vt.
5	787	Lap	Patrick Ruane	Sunapee/Continental Paving/Revolution	Webster, N.H.
6	779	Lap	Christopher Green	Portland Velo Club/Cyclemania	North Yarmouth, Maine
7	783	Lap	Patrick Goguen	Team CF-Elite	Hopedale, Mass.
8	781	Lap	Tristan Baldwin	Team CF-Elite	Amherst, N.H.
9	785	Lap	Patrick Barter