Igda and Leo joined me today on the Walkersville trip. It’s just too bad the race course is so far from the school parking lot and registration. Igda and Leo just ended up goofing around and they witnessed zero of the race. Leo did make a new girlfriend, Zoe, today. He wouldn’t stop talking about her the whole way home.
Nice Pic of a Huge USA Flag at Full Mast (yep, it was windy and the gusts were certainly a kick in the pants from time to time).
Me in my horrific looking kit. Igda made fun of me the whole way home.
On to the race (4 loops - 10 miles per loops/ rolling terrain). M35+ 4/5 – ABRT had things very well organized. Goal: 2nd bike race. Work my ass off and build some fitness.
Lap 1: A yawner. Warm-up lap.
Lap 2: WTF…I decide to attack into the wind on DeVilbiss just before the rollers. Nobody’s playing. Very shortly after drifting back I go off the front again. One guy comes (Coppi). Better, but I was hoping for 5-6 guys wanting to work a break. Begin the drift back. A little foggy here, but I remember just sort of hanging off the front when Tom (WWVC) comes up pretty hard. He’s got some juice. I decide to try and reel him in since I was still slightly off the front. I wasn’t totally committed to catch up to Tom until I saw Coppi and a DCVelo (??) on my wheel.
Photos courtesy of Amy Jones
Ok, 4 is better than 2. Decent representation, but honestly, I didn’t really look to see who all the big teams in the race were. Game on. We were working pretty well together at first. Everyone was working hard. I could see Tom was very strong. Coppi was pulling hard. DCVelo eventually had to start missing pulls, but in his defense, he was the smallest rider in the bunch and the wind was punishing. I think Moto Ref said 40 second lead going into Lap 3. It sounded like the field was splitting up since he said a chase group was ~35 seconds.
Lap 3: Toward the end of lap 2, our break’s rhythm started getting really screwed up. Pulls started being missed by Coppi & DCVelo. Ok, I’m new and all to bike racing but this started making it really difficult to maintain rhythm when you have to keep looking back wondering if someone is pulling through or not. A lot of wasted energy closing down gaps. About halfway through lap 3, Tom and I dropped Coppi & DCVelo. We slowed and had time to chat about what next? Tom had the perfect plan (especially now in hindsight!), but I was just too stupid to follow it. We had to slow. We needed Coppi & DcVelo as long as they could hold on. At the end of the Devilbiss stair steps, we would hit it hard and go by ourselves. We just kept rolling. Not sure about time split, but it had come down to ~20 seconds.
Lap 4: We grind away into the wind on Devilbiss. The Chase is about 7-10 seconds behind us as we approach the point where Tom mentioned to drop the hammer. I remember saying to Tom, “Well, it looks like we’ll be caught.” Stupid me, I rationalize that there’s no way we are going to hold off the pack until the end, so I decide to sit up and join the chase group. HUGE MISTAKE! Little did I know, but Tom had two WWVC teammates doing a brilliant job riding tempo and blocking ALL THE WAY TO THE FINISH. I would estimate that the group that caught us consisted of about 20-25 riders at the most. One rider bridged up to Tom, but I was stuck mid-pack when he went. I’m kicking myself for not at least attempting to bridge back up to Tom. I'm not sure I would have made it, but I regret not trying. Live and Learn. As for my finish, I just decided to launch off the front at about 400m and just grind it to the line. Yep, I was rolled by the pack, putting me at 16th on the day. Heck of a fun day! I’m very happy with the power #’s as the building continues. Everything is on track.
Winners in front of the chase at about ~8-10 seconds I think (Tom held on for 2nd and I witnessed lesson on how to attack the break at the right moment):
Pack finish:
Gus (WWVC) said the best line afterward when I was talking to their team after the race, “Never underestimate the laziness of the pack.” Hat’s off to the WWVC team and Tom for a stellar performance and actually racing with a strategy. They definitely peaked my interest if/when I make the commitment to bike racing in the next few months.
I just ran across this news video coverage: Tour of Walkersville
Pete,
ReplyDeleteFantastic race. Was a great day in the break with you. Look forward to swapping pulls again in the near future!
An epic break, Peter. Amazing performance considering those conditions. I shared a chuckle with Tom at the front of the chase early in your break (about the efforts you guys must be putting in), only to get unhinged on the last lap after the hammer-fest that was the 4th. A humbling experience to be sure. Ended up collecting some other unfortunates and we worked together to bring it home strong.
ReplyDeleteWhat a day.