. . . was going through my mind as I was rolling into the parking lot at Church Creek as I was thinking about tomorrow and going down to the flat lands of VA to do Stoney Creek.
I quickly packed up my gear and set it up so that I did not need to take anything inside except for my used bottles and kit, as we awaited the results. While packing Luis asked me if I was still doing Stoney Creek, I told it really depended on my results today even though I was mentally prepared to do it. He told me that if I go, he'll go, I replied I will do it out of spite just to put him in pain. Mean while Ryan Simpson returned from his time trial. He carpooled with some teammates I was parked next to and I mentioned to him earlier that morning about a shirt I saw once, shut up legs and how it applies to time trials, when he got back he said there should be one for Church Creek, shut up crotch.
To that detail, one can practice riding their TT bike for muscle adaptation, for both legs and lower back and trying to put down similar power as the road position. But there is a one hell of a difference between doing a 40k TT and a zone 2 /3 effort in that position, and then doing it again the next day.
After the excruciating long drive home because MD and their infinite amount of wisdom decided to close down two lanes of 50 before 495 causing a 5 - 7 mile parking lot, I finally made it home, almost 4 hours after starting my what was supposed to be a 2 hour drive. Floating on cloud nine from my results I was looking forward to Stoney Creek. My LG compression pants on, two huge ice blocks on my legs while sitting in traffic and making sure I was getting enough fluids I was on my way to recovery as quick as possible. Somewhere in my journey I received an e-mail from Tracy approving my upgrade to Cat 3. I was stoked, how much better could this weekend get.
Sunday morning came quick, way too quick. I set off around 5:45am for the long drive down to Petersburg. As the sun began to rise it was on it way to be an overcast morning, which was welcomed, keep the temps down and possibly winds as well. Luis arrived shortly after I did and we began to slowly get our stuff ready as we both anticipated a relatively short warm up to get the legs moving and heart pumping.
Around 9am we head out for our warm up, on Rt 40. It was great nice and quiet and in the shade, felt great. Until half way through as I we were getting ready to turn around I felt something on my throat, and then it stung me, just above my Adam's Apple. I grabbed my throat and ripped it off I had no idea what it was, I just threw it to the the ground. The next thing I knew my throat began burning, like hell. I have only been stung by bees before and this felt nothing like the pinch on one those. For a good 5 - 7 minutes it just kept burning. We pull over and Luis checks out my neck and sees a little swelling and blood obviously from where I pull the stinger off me, but the stinger was not stuck in my skin. He asked if I was allergic, I had no idea, but did say a good sign would be if I just drift off the road into the ditch to call 911.
We get back to the car a few minutes later than I anticipated. I forgot about the sting to change my jersey, helmet, glasses and put on my shoe covers. I arrive at the line a few minutes to spare. My 30 second man however was nowhere to be found so we wait for the minute and then I get ready to go.
Off I go, I settle down in the aero position quite quickly as there is a bit of a headwind on the way out. Shortly after that I settle into a good pace, watching my map and keeping an eye on the white line. I started keeping an eye on land marks and times to anticipate efforts for my return. Then I start passing riders, how many well not quite sure because, me being a Cat 3 I was the third person in the Cat 4s to go off behind the cat 5s. My estimates would have been 10 -15 in total.
I approach the turn around just over 28 minutes. Halfway there and I am on a sub hour pace, this was great, even better was the tail wind on the way back. My pace definitely picked up, HR finally started to rise after being quite low for the first half. I kept doing my thing. I came to the last kink in the road around 45 minutes in to it, next up was the one bridge that had some pot holes on it.
Buried in my own misery I am looking down my map and miss seeing the potholes. I hit one, dead on, hard enough that you know in the pit of your stomach that something is not right. A few seconds later pssssssssssssssssssss, my rear tire is flat. My race was over. my season ended the same it started, a flat in a time trial...
I was furious, I was doing really well, on course to set a personal best for a 40k, even better the day after what is suppose to be one of hardest in the area. I come to a slow stop, careful enough not to stop too quickly and have a chance of the bike falling from under me.
I get off the bike, take off the helmet glasses and eventually shoes and start the long walk back to car. This is depressing I was thinking to myself. All of the people I had passed were now passing me. After about 10 minutes of walking a gentleman in a van pulls over and asks if I want a ride. I told him he was a sight for sore eyes, although my legs were killing me, my feet were in pain from walking on hot asphalt, it was truly a blessing.
And this is where the religious reference from Saturday comes in to play, the gentleman that picked me up told me he was minister at two local churches and was on his way to his second church to give his second service that morning, and by chance he was running late. What are the odds, sure another motorist might have eventually stopped but this guy did. I regrettably didnt get his name to be able to send him a thank you, but I did shake his hand and tell him thank you as we got to the parking area.
I suppose there are some things I could have done differently to avoid the potholes on that bridge but hindsight is always 20/20 right, but at the moment it was out of my control. It wasnt a mechanical that was caused by a lack of oversight in prep for the race, just bad luck, we all have those days sometimes, and just like a friend once told me. . . sometimes your only reward is sore legs. . . and that was for damn sure.
I got to my car, my teammates convey their condolences but being pretty upset I pack the car and leave as soon as I can, mainly so I can beat any kind of traffic on 95 which is generally a crap shoot on a summer sunday afternoon.
After I got home and cleaned the car out I downloaded the data from the 705, extrapolated the data and based off current average speed and power, and distance from the finish line I would have bested my time the day prior by a good amount, oh well, wasnt mean to be. But I can tell you that those 22.7 miles I did race were extremely painful and raced just as a 40k. I suppose my luck had to run out sooner or later.
C'est la vie
Monday, August 23, 2010
pushing through tough times. . .
Time trails are a mental mind game, how hard one can push them self to limit and stay there. Ones ability to be able to perfectly execute their planned pace, 90% first half 110% second, etc. either way it also boils how well you can deal with racing against yourself.
I do a lot of solo riding, mainly because of the areas I like to ride, where I live and times I can get out and ride. I truly enjoy riding in groups as well, but I have also learned to be able to burry myself just as bad if not more going solo. I have been commuting to work by bike for the last 2 plus years, havent driven at all. In the mornings around 4am its nice and quiet, not many on the road, generally 15 - 20 cars will pass me on my 12 mile commute, the perfect time for training. And this is probably where I get some of my ability to do it decently at it. I am not the best, good, but just mediocre in the grand scheme of racing, I try to do well in my category but in the end I also measure myself for the categories I want do to well in.
The hardest thing about psyching ones self in a TT is believing in your ability to do well, ability to punish yourself, but unfortunately anything on your mind can also be a huge distraction as well.
Last Church Creek I was not in the best of shape, I did it mainly to support the team in a TTT effort, but figured what the hell. I signed up at the last minute after breaking two ribs at the Battle of Run the week prior with a crash on the gravel road. I did well considering my injuries, wished my power was higher, but hey dont well, the heat was definitely there and that could have hurt too. Either way I finished second, two seconds behind Kyle Pitman.
Now shortly after that I realized that Chruch Creek #2 and Stoney Creek were back to back on the same weekend, a double dose of suffering? Sure why the hell not. From the begining of June on I started training for my body to be able to put up with two all out efforts day after day and still preform well on the second day. I learned a lot about nutrition, hydration, recovery and all the other good stuff.
In this process on weekends I wasnt racing I would bury myself on Saturday on a hard course or loop, and repeat it again on Sunday. With some unfortunate or fortunate circumstances in road races I either found my self off the front or the back which was helpful in the mental game preparedness as well. I planned for this past weekend to be my second peak of the season, tapered and did everything right, but unfortunately not everything goes to plan.
The days leading up to the race, I submitted my upgrade to Cat 3, in hopes of receiving it I put off registration until the last minute, in fact almost forgot completely about Wednesday night., but I got in just in time, I assume third or forth last Cat 4. The legs were feeling great, power was there, and it was all coming together.
But alas on Friday I had some very upsetting news, personal, huge, and enough to throw you out of the game completely. Some teammates knew that I have been having some issues but they never thought it was going to hit me the day before my big peak but it did. At this point I didn't want to race at all, I wanted to be done with it, just throw in the towel. I am still debating if I should share the news or not, probably not, it is very personal.
Not being much of a religious person this weekend was very eye opening in many reasons, first when you find out news that is life changing, for the worse it is definitely going to affect your ability to focus. I had no idea how I was going to ride home, it was gut wrenching. But as I spent the afternoon with my son, I decided I needed to race this weekend, it will help me and hell who knows maybe everyone else will also have a bad day.
I continued to get the car ready Friday night so all I had to do was wake up walk the dog eat breakfast and go. All of that went according to plan. Got to the school with plenty of time, met up with teammates and had a good time. It helped take my mind off things a bit. Then I started warming up, on the road, out there looking at numbers my mind eventually started to wonder off think about the future, etc.
Came back to the car, got my things and headed down to the start. This time I incorporated the 5 or 6 miles down there into my warm up, also brought a small bag to leave at the park and ride for afterward with a gel, water bottle, and other things so I can start my recovery ASAP.
I head to the start get there wait for my turn and go off. I went out to hard, first 20 - 25 minutes my power was way to high, but oh well I was feeling good. I passed all of the Cat 4s, there was a break in riders then caught the Cat 5s. Not sure how many i passed it was a lot.
This time i was prepared for the bumpiness, there wasnt much wind, not sure if there was any at all but certain spots in the first half did feel like a little nagging headwind with a cross wind at the end.
A 10 mile, 12 miler, or 20k TT is just short enough for your to really just focus on putting yourself in pain. But in a 40k for me at least from minutes 25 - 45 my mind can wonder, especially like Chruch creek when there is no turn around. So I got very distracted and my my focus start falling off completely. Until the final right turn. I new this was on fresh pavement and could just really hammer away. I tried to refocus, head down staring at my garmin 705 map and looking at the white line. every few minutes i would peer up to see if i was getting close to another rider, and when i did moved over but other than that i just kept my head down looking at the computer. I think I saw the 5k sign, and thats it some math went on in my head, and it was looking good. Either I was am horrible at trying to calculate things or my mind was completely out of it but it did end up beating my previous time, but was it good enough.
I bested my last time by 23 seconds. I got my water and talked to many other riders who stopped to get some water too. After regaining my vision I head out for the long ride back to the car. I met up with an NCVC rider and was explaining the benefits of running the map function on the Garmin and he did seem interested, so I really enjoy passing that tidbit on to others, its not just an expensive power meter head unit, it can do maps too.
I get back to car, chat with teammates about how evidently my garmin is off and i get the wrong distance every time i do Church Creek. After waiting for the results to be posted I was astonished I was won the Cat 4s, with a time of 56:08. I was completely stoked and I had to hand it to God for helping me go out there and help me get through this tough time, even though it was an individual time trial I know he was there helping keep my eyes on the end.
Appalachia Visited, where its more fun getting to the race than the race
A teammate sent me info on this race back in July, when I was in my mid-summer slump, i mean break. Not really feeling it especially after a lack luster showing at Brownstown I sort of dismissed it and was looking at doing Tour of Millersburg instead, since it had a TT, crit and road race.
But the more and more I looked at the elevation, distance, etc. I began to see the light. This was designed for my type of riding style, long climbs, two of them, rollers in between and nearly 60 miles to boot.
Just a forewarning this is probably going to be long, how long not sure but here is an abbreviated cliff notes version
c/n
Started dead last, let them pull, got to the first major climb, caught the 3 leaders and descended past them. thought i would get caught, but they let me go. I was solo for the next 1:25, or pretty much the rest of the race. got caught on the last climb and passed by matthew phillips of haymarket. I caught and passed in the descent doing some crazy speeds, being a junior his gearing was limited and drafted me. I had nothing left the for the sprint finish, and got second.
Real Version:
Ever since I was a young adult entering the military I always wanted to learn from my elders, and be sponge trying to absorb as many life lessons as possible. This eventually has passed on to just about everything I do in my life. From my job, being a father, husband, and now a cyclist. Many people before me have gone the exact same route, or if not, very similar so why not take a minute pick their brain and listen to what they have to pass on that could possibly make your journey better, faster and smoother.
Ever since I joined the team I have tried to learn as much about cycling as possible through other team members and racers. This was especially key at training camp. I remember one evening during one of lecture sessions that Bill gave on climbing, and he mentioned being able to carry the power through for the descent, that has always stuck in my head, especially since I enjoy climbing so much. So if you can get a lead or catch people on a climb, why sacrifice all that work, continue to push and work harder as others generally rest.
Another lesson learned was reconning the course. This worked well for the last day of training camp as we rode out to the start Luis and I paid close attention to the very roads we would be finishing up the final ride on. I also had the chance to do this quite a few times during the season to drive over the course to get a feeling of what to expect, and oddly enough the ones I have done it on I seemed to do well at.
I also like a little function on my Garmin 705 that I have found to be very handy. The course display. David Millar of Garming / Transitions once said he favorite thing about the Garmin 705 was the ability to have the course displayed on his TT bars so he knew where he was going and knew all of the turns ahead of time. Ever since I was directed off course in a road race in PA, I have since mapped out the course on www.ridewithgps.com and then transfer the map on to my Garmin. It works great in time trials, or when you have been dropped by the pack and you need to know your way back to the car.
Onto today.
The course: 59 miles, 5000ft of climbing i think or close to it.
I am a planner, and if a race is 3.5 hours away I like to have as much of the details worked out as possible as early as I can. I had the car packed up last night, and my plan was to leave the house at 6am, get to course early enough to drive the 59 miles and see exactly what was in store for us. Driving the course it started pouring rain, and with the roads in WV and descents we were going to have to do this had the potential to be very dangerous. I made some notes talking to myself, noted when the climbs start, when they ended, lots of rollers, the feed zone, the gravel, to rough spots, etc. To me it was a valuable experience and it paid its dividends.
I reg'ed got the bike ready as it started to rain on the start area, it took a lot of people by surprise but I knew it was coming. I took my time and got the bike to make sure everything was working properly, and then on my way to the start area.
As we lined up I noticed that there werent that many people there with their teams, a lot of individuals, in the past this usually means no one will let a break form. They will chase everything down, but it also means the pace can be higher as well because everyone wants the win. And sure enough after the whistle blew we set off at a pretty high pace. My stroll on the bike earlier wasnt enough to be considered warmed up by any means, and soon enough I found myself in the back. Not dropped off the back yet. . . but the last rider still with the group. But with slick roads and braking surfaces I was able to see how the field would play out. But I was comfortable doing my pace, I knew I needed to warm up and hell we had 59 miles to go, but some was insistent on hammering away, and I let them. I stayed in the draft, not once taking a single pull.
As the risers approached and we went over them I took them at a modest pace, Z3 for me, they werent long and some had some descents afterward that ground could be made up if there was a gap. But other insisted on sprinting up them. Of course these risers were before the first major climb which was about 7 miles long and over 1200ft of gain. Our group began shrinking rather quickly. I am not sure what mile or how long into the race we started the first climb but it was definitely a fitness selector. A grade similar to that of Mount Weather from Rt 50 up to the bridge, I just sat in. Floating between Z3 and 4 in power, I took my time, nothing to prove here, plenty of race left. But as we got further up the fewer were with us, maybe ten tops, with three or four of them being about 20 meters in front. I kept my eye on them watching to see if they would just pull away.
Well as they crested the top I knew the descent was going to be pretty technical, and luckly the rain had stopped and these roads were getting dry. Now this is a tough course, the toughest I have ever ridden, let alone raced. For a break to go off at about 1:20 into the race that could be up to 3 hours, the odds of that surviving were slim, especially with most Cat 4 racers fitness levels. I was hoping that maybe we could get a group of 5 of us to pull away. By that time we had a good gap on the rest of the field. Well I dropped two gears and accelerated to catch these guys so we could work together.
Now most of the time getting Cat 4s to work together in a break is about as useful as nailing jello to a tree, it just isnt going to happen, especially if some or most of them are riding unattached they just dont understand the concept of it yet. But as the events that unfolded right now I didnt think were ever going to happen. There is something to be said about being a great climber, hell always KOM points, but what good is that if we have so few hill top finishes, without being a better descender.
I am not sure how this happened, but it did and well I couldnt believe my eyes. As I accelerated up the front three or four guys, I just flew right by them. Not planning this one bit it just happened. This descent had some turns, a couple wet spots, similar to descending Blue Mountain or parts of Naked Mountain, nothing too crazy. I couldnt believe I just got as low as I could and pulled away. They never chased.
This descent was about 8 or 9 miles, it was fun, and going solo was even more so, no one to worry about screwing up you line, no one to brake for, for all the right reasons you. In disbelief I kept as low as I could doing what I do. I thought for sure any second now they would work to pull me back. But as we turned on to another road nothing. I knew I had some rollers coming up, there was nothing flat about this race by any means, you were either going up or down at any point. I kept my position low and just TT'ed, had lots of practice with last weekends unfortunate events, but none the less I have had plenty of time to perfect it.
Hill after hill I was take at a steady pace keeping mind what my friend Chuck Hutchenson had told me about breakaways. Dont kill the uphills, save it for the flats and descents, becuase the group will try to make up group sprinting up hills and have nothing left for the rest. Turns out he was pretty much correct.
I started passing dropped 1,2,3 riders, looking at my map for the up coming turns and every now and then peaking back. The final 20 miles or so were the hardest, probably some of the hardest miles I have ever ridden on a bike. The final climb peaked 7.6 miles from the finish, it was a shorter climb, only 3 or 4 miles of really climbing but there was a long nagging ascent to the climb.
I started getting tired, but still focused on my pace, the moto ref told me they were 1:15 back. I had no idea if that was closing or not because I never saw the moto ref before that point. But I kept going started the final climb at a good tempo. The as the pitch got higher I could see some riders bridging up to me. I just kept my pace, hoping they would blow up. Most did, but about 1.5 miles from the summit Matthew Phillips caught me and passed me like I was standing still. This kid was hauling, no one else though. He was gone before I knew it, but I also knew that he didnt take many risks descending, so if he doesnt gap me too much I had a shot at catching him.
Well the misery ended, by the time I got to the top I experienced something I had never had before, actual muscle cramping. My left hamstring and right calve were cramping some kind of bad. That made climbing even more fun, but I had to push through the pain and keep spinning. For the first time on that climb I dropped it into my 39 and had to spin. As the descent began I still had to keep pedaling as my legs would cramp if I didnt.
Now I have done some pretty stupid things on my bike before, most of which I wont admit in an open forum but some of the risks on the descent today definitely tops some of them. I left it all on the line. I had almost no gas left what so ever. I was exhausted, at this point I had been riding solo, strike that, racing solo for nearing one hour and fifteen minutes. My only saving grace was being able to descend like an angel from heaven. Climb like a bat out of hell and descend like an angel, the best of both worlds.
This descent was the most technical I had ever done before. It made the hairpins on 211 near Skyline Drive stroll in around the block. This had complex hairpains after hairpins, some banked, switching from being on the outside to the inside. Honestly it is pretty indescribable, but to me I had nothing to loose. I began catching Matthew, and eventually made the catch. As I rode by, he yelled something, I had no idea what it was.
After the descent we had about 2 miles or so before we finished, still some rollers. As we were going he was just sitting on my wheel and I couldnt figure out why. He then spins up to me and says he is limited by junior gearing. Well shit if I didnt pull on the descents third place, which was about 25 meters behind me at the start of the descent, no clue now, was going to catch us.
Well we made our final turn, and I was still hammering it making sure we didnt get caught, as I saw the 1K spray painted on the road, and began looking for the 200m sign, I thought to myself this is going to be longest 1k ever. I eventually saw the 200m, we got up to sprint, well attempted to. As soon as I tried anything like that my legs just cramped up and I had to sit back down, as Matthew edged me out in the final meters for first.
I am not mad, it would have been nice to win, but I feel by being out as long as I was that in of itself was an accomplishment to me. Being able to have the internal fortitude to keep pushing yourself even when you know that the odds of it lasting are slim to none.
Two weeks ago on a ride with Chuck I told him something I believe in. That if you push yourself and try as hard as you can, you will be rewarded, it has happened to me many of times in races, my best races are when I have to dig deep to really give it 100%. To which Chuck responded in a mellow tone, some times your only reward is sore legs. Oddly enough he is right. After last weekend when I was bumped, edged, pushed or what ever off the road and had to chase back the entire race, racing pretty much solo, and finishing 27th. I got nothing but a pair of sore legs. But today, heh today I got the points to upgrade to Cat 3.
But the more and more I looked at the elevation, distance, etc. I began to see the light. This was designed for my type of riding style, long climbs, two of them, rollers in between and nearly 60 miles to boot.
Just a forewarning this is probably going to be long, how long not sure but here is an abbreviated cliff notes version
c/n
Started dead last, let them pull, got to the first major climb, caught the 3 leaders and descended past them. thought i would get caught, but they let me go. I was solo for the next 1:25, or pretty much the rest of the race. got caught on the last climb and passed by matthew phillips of haymarket. I caught and passed in the descent doing some crazy speeds, being a junior his gearing was limited and drafted me. I had nothing left the for the sprint finish, and got second.
Real Version:
Ever since I was a young adult entering the military I always wanted to learn from my elders, and be sponge trying to absorb as many life lessons as possible. This eventually has passed on to just about everything I do in my life. From my job, being a father, husband, and now a cyclist. Many people before me have gone the exact same route, or if not, very similar so why not take a minute pick their brain and listen to what they have to pass on that could possibly make your journey better, faster and smoother.
Ever since I joined the team I have tried to learn as much about cycling as possible through other team members and racers. This was especially key at training camp. I remember one evening during one of lecture sessions that Bill gave on climbing, and he mentioned being able to carry the power through for the descent, that has always stuck in my head, especially since I enjoy climbing so much. So if you can get a lead or catch people on a climb, why sacrifice all that work, continue to push and work harder as others generally rest.
Another lesson learned was reconning the course. This worked well for the last day of training camp as we rode out to the start Luis and I paid close attention to the very roads we would be finishing up the final ride on. I also had the chance to do this quite a few times during the season to drive over the course to get a feeling of what to expect, and oddly enough the ones I have done it on I seemed to do well at.
I also like a little function on my Garmin 705 that I have found to be very handy. The course display. David Millar of Garming / Transitions once said he favorite thing about the Garmin 705 was the ability to have the course displayed on his TT bars so he knew where he was going and knew all of the turns ahead of time. Ever since I was directed off course in a road race in PA, I have since mapped out the course on www.ridewithgps.com and then transfer the map on to my Garmin. It works great in time trials, or when you have been dropped by the pack and you need to know your way back to the car.
Onto today.
The course: 59 miles, 5000ft of climbing i think or close to it.
I am a planner, and if a race is 3.5 hours away I like to have as much of the details worked out as possible as early as I can. I had the car packed up last night, and my plan was to leave the house at 6am, get to course early enough to drive the 59 miles and see exactly what was in store for us. Driving the course it started pouring rain, and with the roads in WV and descents we were going to have to do this had the potential to be very dangerous. I made some notes talking to myself, noted when the climbs start, when they ended, lots of rollers, the feed zone, the gravel, to rough spots, etc. To me it was a valuable experience and it paid its dividends.
I reg'ed got the bike ready as it started to rain on the start area, it took a lot of people by surprise but I knew it was coming. I took my time and got the bike to make sure everything was working properly, and then on my way to the start area.
As we lined up I noticed that there werent that many people there with their teams, a lot of individuals, in the past this usually means no one will let a break form. They will chase everything down, but it also means the pace can be higher as well because everyone wants the win. And sure enough after the whistle blew we set off at a pretty high pace. My stroll on the bike earlier wasnt enough to be considered warmed up by any means, and soon enough I found myself in the back. Not dropped off the back yet. . . but the last rider still with the group. But with slick roads and braking surfaces I was able to see how the field would play out. But I was comfortable doing my pace, I knew I needed to warm up and hell we had 59 miles to go, but some was insistent on hammering away, and I let them. I stayed in the draft, not once taking a single pull.
As the risers approached and we went over them I took them at a modest pace, Z3 for me, they werent long and some had some descents afterward that ground could be made up if there was a gap. But other insisted on sprinting up them. Of course these risers were before the first major climb which was about 7 miles long and over 1200ft of gain. Our group began shrinking rather quickly. I am not sure what mile or how long into the race we started the first climb but it was definitely a fitness selector. A grade similar to that of Mount Weather from Rt 50 up to the bridge, I just sat in. Floating between Z3 and 4 in power, I took my time, nothing to prove here, plenty of race left. But as we got further up the fewer were with us, maybe ten tops, with three or four of them being about 20 meters in front. I kept my eye on them watching to see if they would just pull away.
Well as they crested the top I knew the descent was going to be pretty technical, and luckly the rain had stopped and these roads were getting dry. Now this is a tough course, the toughest I have ever ridden, let alone raced. For a break to go off at about 1:20 into the race that could be up to 3 hours, the odds of that surviving were slim, especially with most Cat 4 racers fitness levels. I was hoping that maybe we could get a group of 5 of us to pull away. By that time we had a good gap on the rest of the field. Well I dropped two gears and accelerated to catch these guys so we could work together.
Now most of the time getting Cat 4s to work together in a break is about as useful as nailing jello to a tree, it just isnt going to happen, especially if some or most of them are riding unattached they just dont understand the concept of it yet. But as the events that unfolded right now I didnt think were ever going to happen. There is something to be said about being a great climber, hell always KOM points, but what good is that if we have so few hill top finishes, without being a better descender.
I am not sure how this happened, but it did and well I couldnt believe my eyes. As I accelerated up the front three or four guys, I just flew right by them. Not planning this one bit it just happened. This descent had some turns, a couple wet spots, similar to descending Blue Mountain or parts of Naked Mountain, nothing too crazy. I couldnt believe I just got as low as I could and pulled away. They never chased.
This descent was about 8 or 9 miles, it was fun, and going solo was even more so, no one to worry about screwing up you line, no one to brake for, for all the right reasons you. In disbelief I kept as low as I could doing what I do. I thought for sure any second now they would work to pull me back. But as we turned on to another road nothing. I knew I had some rollers coming up, there was nothing flat about this race by any means, you were either going up or down at any point. I kept my position low and just TT'ed, had lots of practice with last weekends unfortunate events, but none the less I have had plenty of time to perfect it.
Hill after hill I was take at a steady pace keeping mind what my friend Chuck Hutchenson had told me about breakaways. Dont kill the uphills, save it for the flats and descents, becuase the group will try to make up group sprinting up hills and have nothing left for the rest. Turns out he was pretty much correct.
I started passing dropped 1,2,3 riders, looking at my map for the up coming turns and every now and then peaking back. The final 20 miles or so were the hardest, probably some of the hardest miles I have ever ridden on a bike. The final climb peaked 7.6 miles from the finish, it was a shorter climb, only 3 or 4 miles of really climbing but there was a long nagging ascent to the climb.
I started getting tired, but still focused on my pace, the moto ref told me they were 1:15 back. I had no idea if that was closing or not because I never saw the moto ref before that point. But I kept going started the final climb at a good tempo. The as the pitch got higher I could see some riders bridging up to me. I just kept my pace, hoping they would blow up. Most did, but about 1.5 miles from the summit Matthew Phillips caught me and passed me like I was standing still. This kid was hauling, no one else though. He was gone before I knew it, but I also knew that he didnt take many risks descending, so if he doesnt gap me too much I had a shot at catching him.
Well the misery ended, by the time I got to the top I experienced something I had never had before, actual muscle cramping. My left hamstring and right calve were cramping some kind of bad. That made climbing even more fun, but I had to push through the pain and keep spinning. For the first time on that climb I dropped it into my 39 and had to spin. As the descent began I still had to keep pedaling as my legs would cramp if I didnt.
Now I have done some pretty stupid things on my bike before, most of which I wont admit in an open forum but some of the risks on the descent today definitely tops some of them. I left it all on the line. I had almost no gas left what so ever. I was exhausted, at this point I had been riding solo, strike that, racing solo for nearing one hour and fifteen minutes. My only saving grace was being able to descend like an angel from heaven. Climb like a bat out of hell and descend like an angel, the best of both worlds.
This descent was the most technical I had ever done before. It made the hairpins on 211 near Skyline Drive stroll in around the block. This had complex hairpains after hairpins, some banked, switching from being on the outside to the inside. Honestly it is pretty indescribable, but to me I had nothing to loose. I began catching Matthew, and eventually made the catch. As I rode by, he yelled something, I had no idea what it was.
After the descent we had about 2 miles or so before we finished, still some rollers. As we were going he was just sitting on my wheel and I couldnt figure out why. He then spins up to me and says he is limited by junior gearing. Well shit if I didnt pull on the descents third place, which was about 25 meters behind me at the start of the descent, no clue now, was going to catch us.
Well we made our final turn, and I was still hammering it making sure we didnt get caught, as I saw the 1K spray painted on the road, and began looking for the 200m sign, I thought to myself this is going to be longest 1k ever. I eventually saw the 200m, we got up to sprint, well attempted to. As soon as I tried anything like that my legs just cramped up and I had to sit back down, as Matthew edged me out in the final meters for first.
I am not mad, it would have been nice to win, but I feel by being out as long as I was that in of itself was an accomplishment to me. Being able to have the internal fortitude to keep pushing yourself even when you know that the odds of it lasting are slim to none.
Two weeks ago on a ride with Chuck I told him something I believe in. That if you push yourself and try as hard as you can, you will be rewarded, it has happened to me many of times in races, my best races are when I have to dig deep to really give it 100%. To which Chuck responded in a mellow tone, some times your only reward is sore legs. Oddly enough he is right. After last weekend when I was bumped, edged, pushed or what ever off the road and had to chase back the entire race, racing pretty much solo, and finishing 27th. I got nothing but a pair of sore legs. But today, heh today I got the points to upgrade to Cat 3.
Page Valley Road Race
I was coming into this race pretty excited. I have been planning for a late Summer peak for the Church Creek and Stoney Creek time trials. With this being the state championship road race I knew there was going to be quite a bit of competition there as well, and keeping an eye on pre-reg it filled up quickly towards the end with riders from all over the state.
A few days before the race I rode with a friend who made mention that the course isnt setup to be a climbers course, even though the elevation profile lends its self to show that, it is actually a very fast course. Although I didnt know what to expect with a bunch of Cat 4, there was obviously going to be a fitness selection the first couple times up the hills and with 90 riders registered it was surely going to be interesting.
I did note that Paul Low, same fellow that won Blacksburg Road Race was there and I was
interested in getting something to work with him since I know he is a powerhouse. So I made sure to talk to him along with Matt Davis as well. Evo had a few guys there, both Luis', Colin, Brian and myself, so I talked to them and let them know that I am feeling good and want to do well this race.
I was pretty familiar with the terrain as I do a ride out there that starts in Luray and works its way over to Stanley on some of these very same roads over to Tanner's Ridge Rd. and I knew the first few miles were going to be quick as they are relatively flat and with a tail wind the group could go fast, I let my teammates know that and hopefully the pace will be quick from the go.
For the warm up I take Luis over near Tanner's Ridge, forget the name of the road we were on but showed him the local slaughter road to go on when you need to be humbled. After a quick spin we head back to the start to line up. A few words from the town mayor and away we go.
A few turns to get on the course and pace stays relatively mellow. We make it to the first climb and I believe at the point Paul goes off the front, a few riders go with him, but we can keep him in our sites. Being Cat 4s no one wants a break to happen so the pace picks up. I am not too concerned because we still had 40+ miles of racing to go. As the group sprinted up these climbs they quickly wore themselves out and this is where the fitness selection began to happen.
Just past the finish line there was a slight descent to one final kicker, just quick enough to add some pain, and then a nice descent with sharp right hander. Now this is where I was able to catch back up to Paul and just coasted. I tried to do as little leading as possible as most of the competitive riders were all together, no sense in burning my self out if all they are going to do is just sit in.
As we go up the climb the second or third time, cant remember, a few riders go off the front again. The pack accelerates to try and catch them, this was the first of the two climbs i suppose, longer, aerobic effort so I am in my steady pace, riders start going up around me and i get boxed in on the right, still in the top 10 of the main group some a rider on my left gets closer and closer. At this point there is very little room for me. With some people tiring themselves out the rider in front of starts slowing, being boxed in I had nowhere to go. My front wheel goes off in what was probably the only stretch of road on the entire course that did not have a level shoulder, there was a couple inch drop in to gravel. I wasnt able to pop my wheel back on the road and fell to my left. Unfortunately I landed on another rider, Chris Larson of Synfit. I have heard of him from many teammates but never had the pleasure of meeting him and unfortunately it was under these circumstances. I was uninjured although my shoe was stuck in my wheel and I had to get out so I could stand up.
As soon as I do so, I noticed his chain with off, so I help put it back on as it was easier for me to do, and away he goes. I go to hop on my bike and try to pedal but alas my chain was off too. I put it back on away I go. The next few laps were a lesson of internal fortitude and how hard i can push myself. I caught up to Chris and we began to work together along the flat parts of the course, taking turns pulling but at one point I get side stitches and just cant keep pace. I have to slow down and he pulls away. I worked through the cramps and kept pushing away, I was able to take the hills at my pace, but I knew that wasnt going to be good enough with Paul most likely leading the race up them. So I also tried to make up as much ground on the descents as I could.
Every now and then I would catch a dropped rider and would try to work with them until they would have nothing left. The start of the last lap I could start seeing the wheel truck at almost every turn. I couldnt believe I could be catching on. I kept plugging away and trying to stay as low as possible and pedaling efficiently. It was getting closer and closer. At the start of the final climbs I start passing more and more dropped riders I was getting closer, but my time was running out. In the final 500 meters I caught the wheel truck and ref, and managed a 27th place finish.
Its funny a few days prior a friend told me sometime your only reward for a hard effort can be just a pair of sore legs, he was certainly true with that statement. I was shot at the end of that race, the heat, the effort, the dehydration, completely done. The ride back to the car was painful, but I never gave up and I kept pushing, thinking in the end this is one hell of a training ride, if you have the open road might as well use it right?
A few days before the race I rode with a friend who made mention that the course isnt setup to be a climbers course, even though the elevation profile lends its self to show that, it is actually a very fast course. Although I didnt know what to expect with a bunch of Cat 4, there was obviously going to be a fitness selection the first couple times up the hills and with 90 riders registered it was surely going to be interesting.
I did note that Paul Low, same fellow that won Blacksburg Road Race was there and I was
interested in getting something to work with him since I know he is a powerhouse. So I made sure to talk to him along with Matt Davis as well. Evo had a few guys there, both Luis', Colin, Brian and myself, so I talked to them and let them know that I am feeling good and want to do well this race.
I was pretty familiar with the terrain as I do a ride out there that starts in Luray and works its way over to Stanley on some of these very same roads over to Tanner's Ridge Rd. and I knew the first few miles were going to be quick as they are relatively flat and with a tail wind the group could go fast, I let my teammates know that and hopefully the pace will be quick from the go.
For the warm up I take Luis over near Tanner's Ridge, forget the name of the road we were on but showed him the local slaughter road to go on when you need to be humbled. After a quick spin we head back to the start to line up. A few words from the town mayor and away we go.
A few turns to get on the course and pace stays relatively mellow. We make it to the first climb and I believe at the point Paul goes off the front, a few riders go with him, but we can keep him in our sites. Being Cat 4s no one wants a break to happen so the pace picks up. I am not too concerned because we still had 40+ miles of racing to go. As the group sprinted up these climbs they quickly wore themselves out and this is where the fitness selection began to happen.
Just past the finish line there was a slight descent to one final kicker, just quick enough to add some pain, and then a nice descent with sharp right hander. Now this is where I was able to catch back up to Paul and just coasted. I tried to do as little leading as possible as most of the competitive riders were all together, no sense in burning my self out if all they are going to do is just sit in.
As we go up the climb the second or third time, cant remember, a few riders go off the front again. The pack accelerates to try and catch them, this was the first of the two climbs i suppose, longer, aerobic effort so I am in my steady pace, riders start going up around me and i get boxed in on the right, still in the top 10 of the main group some a rider on my left gets closer and closer. At this point there is very little room for me. With some people tiring themselves out the rider in front of starts slowing, being boxed in I had nowhere to go. My front wheel goes off in what was probably the only stretch of road on the entire course that did not have a level shoulder, there was a couple inch drop in to gravel. I wasnt able to pop my wheel back on the road and fell to my left. Unfortunately I landed on another rider, Chris Larson of Synfit. I have heard of him from many teammates but never had the pleasure of meeting him and unfortunately it was under these circumstances. I was uninjured although my shoe was stuck in my wheel and I had to get out so I could stand up.
As soon as I do so, I noticed his chain with off, so I help put it back on as it was easier for me to do, and away he goes. I go to hop on my bike and try to pedal but alas my chain was off too. I put it back on away I go. The next few laps were a lesson of internal fortitude and how hard i can push myself. I caught up to Chris and we began to work together along the flat parts of the course, taking turns pulling but at one point I get side stitches and just cant keep pace. I have to slow down and he pulls away. I worked through the cramps and kept pushing away, I was able to take the hills at my pace, but I knew that wasnt going to be good enough with Paul most likely leading the race up them. So I also tried to make up as much ground on the descents as I could.
Every now and then I would catch a dropped rider and would try to work with them until they would have nothing left. The start of the last lap I could start seeing the wheel truck at almost every turn. I couldnt believe I could be catching on. I kept plugging away and trying to stay as low as possible and pedaling efficiently. It was getting closer and closer. At the start of the final climbs I start passing more and more dropped riders I was getting closer, but my time was running out. In the final 500 meters I caught the wheel truck and ref, and managed a 27th place finish.
Its funny a few days prior a friend told me sometime your only reward for a hard effort can be just a pair of sore legs, he was certainly true with that statement. I was shot at the end of that race, the heat, the effort, the dehydration, completely done. The ride back to the car was painful, but I never gave up and I kept pushing, thinking in the end this is one hell of a training ride, if you have the open road might as well use it right?
With my upgrade approved I will now resume blog entries. .
I wanted to hold off on blog entries until my upgrade was approved. The last month of racing has been quite exciting but painful in the same respect.
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