Racing Again

A smart friend of mine who has a business that uses internet blogging as one of his vehicles told me that the key to a successful blog is to update it regularly.  Well, I have failed miserably on that front lately.  Makes me wonder how many curious readers I have lost.  Onward...

The transition from rando racing to bike racing is complete now.  I have not been on skis since the last week of March.  The weather, as many of you know, has been shit in the mountains lately, at least for cycling.  Lot's of storms and a generally wet flow pattern that refuses to let go.  I was down in Boise recently where things are decidedly different.  It was great racing and training in shorts for a change.  It's gotta change here eventually, right?

TOUR OF THE DEPOT

My first race this year was the Tour of the Depot down in Toole, Utah on April 11-12.  It was a nice little stage race with good weather and mostly flat stages.  The biggest hill was in the Stage 1 time trial.  Being uncertain of my form, I raced with the old guys in the 45+ Masters.  With a time trial as the first stage, early GC contention is established which can make for some boring, negative racing for the rest of the stages.  I hate that shit.  I just want to race my bike.  Unfortunately, the big team there out of SLC was simply "defending" the lead which is code for not working hard and racing like a limp dick!  Seriously, put the damn TT at the end so we can throw down on the road.

I'm not time trialing that well since my return to the sport but finished 9th on this one.  Better than similar efforts last year. The equipment issue still bugs me as serious time is given away for those of us not on dedicated TT bikes with a full disc and deep dish rims.  Until I have the cash for the funny bike I am thinking about soft-pedaling these things.  On the other hand, I would miss out on an opportunity to get better at them.

Anyway, later that day there was a short circuit race that lasted about an hour.  Not very interesting racing.  With a little more aggression, the course could have been more selective but we just rode around in circles waiting for the sprint.  The finish was very fast.  If it wasn't for the head wind, I would have been out-gunned with with my compact 50/11.  I waited a bit too long when the late attacks went, not sure who to worry about.  I was able to hold on to fourth, however.  It was a long sprint and it was satisfying watching the one guy who got my wheel repeatedly pull out to the side to pass only to go back into my draft.  Lets me know that my speed is there.

The last road race was on the longer side at 75 miles.  It was nice to race that far in the masters.  It was mostly negative racing again.  Lots of wind.  I was off the front twice by myself but went nowhere.  With about 20km to go a couple of solid attacks by the right folks got things rolling.  I was off with two others and I thought we would hold it.  I was the weakest of the three initially and then one of the others totally hit the wall.  I thought he was bluffing and I held my cards too close.  One guy stayed off to the end and we were caught.  I led out the sprint and finished fourth again.  Time bonuses put me into 6th overall.  Sure wish I had stayed on that guy's wheel.  That's the problem early season when you don't know what you have.

CHICKEN DINNER ROAD RACE

The next event was in Boise.  Funny name for a race but a fantastic event on a great course!  Mike Cooley from George's Cycles has been doing this for a long time and runs a great event.  This was part of their annual Spring Series.  The course is gnarly with two good climbs close together and some standard Idaho farm flats in between.  We were spared the usual howling wind this year and had perfect sunny skies and warm temps. Against my better judgement I signed up for the Pro, 1,2 category since my teammates had elected to do the same.  When I saw the second climb I was seriously worried.  To make matters more interesting, former UCI women's world time trial champion, Kristen Armstrong, was there.  Make no bones about it, she is a bad ass and can work over most male Cat 2's when the road goes up.  Pretty humbling for most guys the first time they ride with her. Luckily, this was mostly a Boise crowd and they were used to her antics.  She was just one of the favorites.

As I feared, when the hammer went down on the second lap, I was dropped along with three quarters of the pack.  It was not as bad as I thought, however, as I stayed within 5-10 seconds by the top.  One other guy and I were, what we called, the "best of the rest".  Small consolation.  We were able to get back on and that was very motivating.  We did five laps total and each time was a similar experience.  The only difference was that with each successive ascent I was not as far back.  Others were fading and I was holding.

Kristen and her husband, another bad ass, got off the front and that was the race for the win.  The rest of us continued around racing for 3rd.  On the penultimate lap, I got a slow flat.  I was pissed.  I had held on to make the front group of five and now, nothing!  Shit!  But wait.  It was a very slow leak.  No neutral wheels, of course.  It was a front flat so I sat on the back of my saddle and milked it as long as possible.  Could I actually make it to the feed zone and finish where I could grab my spare out of my van??  For some reason, the others did not attack me, which was nice.  We headed up the climb to the finish and I was able to gap them which was a surprise.  Perhaps they were being nice and waiting a bit.  I got the wheel and got back on before the big climb.  How cool is that?  I was psyched!  I would actually get to race.  Better still, I did that final climb at the front.  Perhaps all this volume was going to pay off.  

Nothing happened prior to the final throw down on the climb to the finish.  I was feeling good.  As soon as we hit the final 1500 meters I went to the front and started winding it up.  I was waiting for the four others to come storming by me.  Looking, looking, grabbing gears, waiting, faster, faster!  When I finally glanced over my shoulder with 200 meters to go, there was no one there.  Holy crap!  I was third!

Okay, that was seriously fun!  There is nothing more satisfying than overcoming your doubts and succeeding. Love that shit!  Now, if I could only get to where I don't get dropped in the first place.  Gotta work on that.

EMMETT-ROUBAIX ROAD RACE

The final road race of the Spring Series was last weekend.  I made the drive to Boise with Dina confident of another good showing.  There would be more fire power present this time.  Cooler temps and way more wind for this one.  There was a mile long section of dirt we had to traverse 3 times and a nice little climb that would prove decisive.  

The racing was aggressive right from the get go.  Lots of attacks along the winding orchard road for the first 20 minutes.  As we turned into a tail wind with a gradual uphill grade, I attacked.  Kristen got my wheel and we motored along for a few minutes.  I knew the climb was coming but I was not sure where exactly.  As we came around a bend I saw it and the strung out field was on us.  They went by and the pack exploded.  Once again, I could not hold the front runners and was 5 seconds in arears as we crested.  It was flat to slightly downhill for a couple of miles.  We formed a small group and started the chase.  It was full gas and we were not gaining at first.  The front group of 8 or so were getting after it.  We needed a head wind and eventually got it.  As we turned into it, we were less than 5 seconds back.  I was pegged.  It was looking grim as their lead stretched out a bit as some of our group missed pulls.  A couple of others made up for it with exceptionally strong efforts and we finally got back on.  OUCH!  Shit that sucked!  

Just as we bridged, a small little kicker loomed in front of us.  I thought if they punched it over that I would be gone again.  I braced myself for the effort but nothing happened.  The pace was reasonable and I thought I was good to go.  As I tried to shift down into an easier gear, my chain slipped like I had dropped it and in the blink of an eye, I was over my handlebars and on the ground.  I cannot put into words the level of disappointment I felt as I lay there.  I was bloodied but not too bad.  The extra clothes helped.  But, shit, I didn't even get to hammer that dirt section.  The next group came by a few minutes later but I was in no condition to get on with them.  Besides, it was over for them too.

I hobbled back to the finish line and ended up going on a nice training ride back to Boise.  That front group continued to shed riders over the last two circuits but I don't know how it ended up.  Perhaps I will get to play next year.

Next up...The Wenatchee Valley Omnium.  Stay tuned. - Brian