Tour de Millersburg 2010 Road Race part II

Here we are, about to embark on the great adventure for all of the marbles, GC victory. Mother nature came out swinging, too, with a little added verocity...rain. Beautiful!

I won't lie here. It's a pretty damn cool feeling to wear the Yellow jersey and get a call up before the start of the race. As expected, this pretty much puts a target on your back, but it's an exhilarating feeling. You definitely have a certain sense of added motivation and pride to back up the fact that you are the leader of the race. I got a tiny taste of what it must feel like for a pro in a big stage race. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But today, I got my opportunity to *pretend* for a few hours I was "El Patron" of the peleton (tongue-in-cheek). And I had some soldiers ready to watch my back.







The road course is fast for sure. For the most part, the roads are wicked smooth with one small exception. I had no idea how fast we were going or avg speed of the race since my meter stopped working beforehand, but getting away was going to be hard.

I think it was on the first lap (17 miles) as the peleton was cruising along, I may have mentioned to Drew Armstrong (NCVC) as everyone appeared to be following the yellow line rule that it's always a strange feeling to have the whole road. It just doesn't feel natural. It took a good 10 miles or so before the field started making use of it in earnest.

I had a very basic strategy for the race:
A. STAY SAFE
B. Conserve - I had plenty of horses at my beckon call to do the dirty work if needed
C. Leave nothing to chance. Absolutely must beat the guys sitting 2, 3 & 4.
D. None of the guys top 5 in GC must be allowed to get away. We'd let others go. Other teams had to do the work to bring back moves.

Honestly, the first two loops were pretty uneventful. Yes, it was raining but I didn't think it was all that bad. Heck, I never even would have known if it had stopped because the water spray from wheels was never ending. I kept having to spit and remind myself to keep my damn mouth shut.

I was tucked in behind or very near my main Lieutenant, Nicholas, for most of the first two laps. I'd just roll with ebbs and flows of the bunch, never panicking if position was lost or trying to move up irrationally. There were attacks here or there but everyone was still way too fresh. It was like a pack of wolves chasing after rabbits. I had a constant eye searching for the contenders, but as I quickly assessed early on, so did my teammates. Damn, so much as a sneeze by a GC guy quickly garnered attention from the team. They were doing so well that it was almost bad for me. It was too easy to just unplug. I had to keep telling myself to pay attention. Good problems though.

It wasn't until the third and final loop where the race was going to provide some exciting drama. And holy sh!t was it a spectacle to behold.

Here's what I remember. It all happened SO fast but I do have a few vivid memories etched in my mind. I was near the front, maybe top 10-15. The speed was high and we were rounding a small curve in the road. I hear some commotion to my right. Like a dog, my sixth sense is acutely aroused. Then BLAMO! I "think" Nicholas was just slightly ahead of me on my right. I recall his bike being taken out from under him and all I see are his legs parallel in the air. SOMEHOW, I managed to barely miss him on the right and then a dude right in front of me just slides out for no apparent reason (he was in front of the freaking wreck for heaven's sake). I feel like I'm walking a tightrope at this point. I felt something slam into my left ankle as I go by but I'm able to hold it together. Holy crap! I think I was the very last rider to make it through before the HUGE pileup started. Jason Hall (Coppi) said he was right on my wheel, and sadly, he didn't fair so well, cracked frame and banged knees. I quickly integrated with the leaders but I did take one quick glance back and noticed what appeared to be a MOUND of riders in the road. CRAZY!

After I reintegrated, I was trying to assess who was there. In a strange twist, nobody really attacked right after the episode. I think everyone was still in a bit of awe at the enormity of it all. It was like everyone took a big deep breath and thanked the big man above. It wouldn't last for long.

After a brief period, I saw Andrew. As we rolled along together, I said to him, "Ok, Nicholas is out, so you are my guy." Andrew gave me the nod, enough said. I had total faith in him. I parked myself near the front and took inventory. Meurig (QCW sitting 2nd) present, Jameson (C3 sitting 3rd) not present, Wareham (Thru-it-all sitting 4th)present. Ok. Back to protecting GC.

I see a DVR rider up the road. I notice Ben Reynolds and Drew Armstrong attack along with a few other guys all of which aren't a threat to me on GC. Cool. I let Andrew know to let it go. And then out of nowhere I see Rusty charging up the left side. Down in the drops...fire in his eyes. I start yelling at him, "Rusty, let it go, let it go!" about 4 times before he stops foaming at the mouth and sits up. Only until after the race did I find out that Rusty had managed to catch back on after slaughtering himself to reattach. Awesome! I was very happy to see him.

So, the break now has 5 riders and is gradually stretching it out...5s..10s...20s. They are still in sight for most of the final lap, but it quickly becomes evident that the GC guys aren't going to help bring it back. It wasn't until afterward that I found out that Meurig had a teammate up the road, too. A somewhat ideal situation for me. At one point, I even mentioned to a guy who was asking me who was up there that I was happy with the break. If they didn't have a guy in it, his team needed to bring it back.

We hit the final stretch of road into town and a few riders tried to put in some big solo efforts but it was too late. As we were coming up the last gradual incline before hitting the flat/downhill descent into town, the next explosion occurred.

I'm not sure what precisely happened since I was hugging the yellow line, but all of the sudden there is a big pileup about 8 riders from the front right in the middle. I swerve off into the other lane and jump hard to reach the 6-7 riders up front. I see Andrew dropping off the back of that bunch to help me. As I'm storming up I start screaming, "GO, ANDREW, GO!" as loud as I can. The adrenaline was rushing through my veins. This was the last straw. It was on.

Andrew figured it out quick. We came up on the small group, came around and he just started unleashing hell. Kevin (DVR) had snuck on his wheel so I was sitting third wheel. After pulling all out for about 1.5 miles, Andrew takes the hard right hand downhill corner first. He's giving it everything he has left. As we get close to the traffic circle chicane, Andrew pulls off. I notice Kevin letting up and sliding left. I have no idea who is behind me and I never looked back to find out at any point.

I put in a seated surge right before the chicane coming through first. I took the turn rather gingerly, but I absolutely didn't want to slide out here of all places! After I knew I was through, I jumped out of the saddle and gave it everything I had. I remember Custer telling me that he tries to "break" his bike when he sprints. Well, that's exactly what I was trying to do. Those last ~250 meter felt like an eternity. I made it to the line and didn't see anyone come around...whew! 6th place, and most important, the GC win! (I've got some video I will add later)


VIDEO (catches the start and then finish with break of 5 then the field (what's left):

Tour de Millersburg Road Race 2010 Start-Finish from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

A huge rush of emotions hit me at that point. I was totally gassed from the effort but I felt on top of the world. It's amazing how quickly you can go from total fatigue to feeling like you haven't even raced when you win. The TEAM did it!

I can't express my gratitude enough to the team for standing behind me the entire event. It was an extremely special race and I will cherish the memories forever.



After getting cleaned up, we all headed over to Wayne's for beer, wings and coffee. I was buying whatever the heck the gang wanted to eat or drink. A small thank you for all the hard work.

We also donated the left over winnings ($100) to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Final Results posted HERE

I definitely plan on having the Yellow Jersey professionally mounted and framed. I'm gonna put that sucker in the pain cave for future motivation. And THANK YOU KENNETH LUNDGREN for guiding me this year. Your planning, guidance and constant reminders that I'd be ready to put together a storybook performance was brilliant.

I would also be in complete remiss if I didn't pay special thanks to my wife and her little brother for the incredible fan support and assistance throughout the weekend! I'm incredibly lucky to have her unyielding support!