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| Race for Wishes RR Cat3 Podium |
Below is a lengthy race re-cap, I promise they wont all be this long but Sundays race was a true test for me mentally so I wanted to fully reflect on it so please don’t feel obligated to read it all. I also included some power data as requested by a couple of you.
The RR in MI was brought to my attention through a training buddy of mine who thrives in long hard road races and thought it would be a good way for me to break up all the late season crits. The road race was on Sunday the 17th near Kalamazoo MI 2hr. drive. I also found a crit taking place on Saturday right in Kalamazoo on the campus of WMS University’s technology park. Being that I have some family in who lives in Kalamazoo I had a free place to stay so I decided to go out for both.
Crit:
The crit was about 30 players strong, only one of which I knew needed to be marked after his win at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. (thank you USA cycling rider search feature)
65 min race around a very well paved 1.1 mile course with only one hard corner and not due to the angle or width but due to the transition between the new black top and old concrete road. First few laps went as expected fast but all together, then some attacks came and a few guys got off the front. At the time I was tail gunning the race not expecting much chance for a break to succeed on this course. Once I saw the break gain about 30 sec I moved to the front to help bring them back but it was quickly obvious I wasn't going to get any help from the group so I sat back and recovered. I tried to bridge twice but was chased as if I had stolen their first born child, and the whole point of bridging isn't to pull the whole group with you.
I finally accepted the fact we weren't going to catch the break so I sat in and enjoyed the ride into what would be a group sprint. A few laps later the bell rang and the most unenthusiastic sprint ensued. I was expecting much more of a sprint with such a rested group but I managed to drop the group on the last turn headed to the line and didn't look back. I guess blocking is hard work? Took 5th on the day with one upgrade point earned, as frustrating as it was not to catch the break it was good to witness good team work and ride a great course. Side note the payouts were pretty good too…
Max W: 1,402 NP: 355w Distance: 30miles Max Speed: 40.3mph Avg Speed: 25.3mph Work: 1,347klj TSS: 142
RR:
As I mentioned on my FB status, this race was a huge learning experience for me, not on how to win a race and instead on how to conquer my own mind and what is physically possible when you do.
This race started in a small town about 20 min west of Kalamazoo MI. Doug and I met up at around 7am for 8am starts. Being the first year for this race I was expecting an unorganized crazy registration and I was delightfully surprised to find a well-oiled machine working through riders one by one.
I was off at 8:05 and Doug at 8:15am, both Doug and I would complete 5 laps and 65 miles of this rolling hills type course. The course had 3 hills that were noteworthy, and plenty of other little kickers that would mix things up a bit. My group was small 15+ riders but they all seemed quality (and light), the first lap was mostly reconnaissance followed by a quicker 2nd lap. Half way thru the 2nd lap a single rider rolled off the front very casually leaving a small gap. I figured I would come around and sit on his wheel for a while until the rest of the group pulled thought and kept the pace. This was not the case, a few min latter I looked back to see a 100 yard gap between us and the group. I instantly sized up my partner and asked him if he was willing to work, he said sure and once we crested the next hill and were briefly out of site we hit the gas!
My new teammate and I traded pulls for a couple miles and I quickly realized he was not up for the challenge. On a downhill section he was struggling to hold my wheel and then abruptly sat up and yelled “go for it I’m done”. It was at this point that I looked at my Garmin and realized that I still had 40+ miles left in the race and I have never ridden off the front of a RR much less a hilly one! I was thinking to myself “what are you doing? This is not how you win races you are a sprinter, you let other people do the work and then crush them at the last second!” (Not to be mean that’s just how sprinters think) Many thoughts were going thru my mind but since I couldn’t see the group behind me yet so I figured just keep a good pace and see what happens.
Going into lap 3 was rough, the hills are largely front heavy in the course and I normally depend on the twigs to pace me up the hills at a reasonable speed. Riding hills solo in a race is a completely new thing for me. At this point I can see the group chasing and looks to be about a min back.
Knowing the pain in my legs and lungs would do nothing but get worse and the fact I was only half way done lead me to a very dark place in my mind. “Why am I doing this? This hurts so much” I then realized that I was getting just a little taste of what the pro’s refer to as “suffering on the bike” I have been pretty toasted before in training and racing but I have never experienced a level of physical pain and mental challenge of this level while cycling. At this point I seriously wanted to drop off my pace and sink back into the charging group but something kept me pedaling forward enough to notice a solo rider off the front of the group bridging to me. Since he had a good gap on the field and seemed to be working hard, I decided to let off my pace a touch and let the rider come up. Once the 140 pounder was on my wheel I asked him if he could climb, he said yes.
We made a deal that he would pace me up the hills and I would motor the flats for as long as we could and hopefully it would pay off. I estimated the gap at about 1 min with 2.5 laps to go. Once he recovered from the bridge we began working together like clockwork. He would drag me up the hills and I would pull him across the flats and down the hills. I know I was working harder than he was but the help on the hills was more than worth the extra effort.
In 1.5 laps (according to a crossing guard post-race) we put a 10 min gap the chasing field. Headed into the bell lap I could feel my legs starting to tighten up, cramps had already hit my lungs and were starting to take over my calf’s and quads. I knew I had not prepared well enough for the heat, I needed more water and more food than I had brought, but at this point in the game it was a moot point. ¾ laps left, I knew my partner was tired and he was struggling to hold my wheel on the flats but looked strong on the climbs. As we headed toward the first noteworthy climb of the lap I felt a searing pain originating in my groin and radiating all the way down to my left ankle. It wasn’t a muscle spasm but perhaps a nerve pinched by a very tired muscle. I was able to let off my leg enough to ease the pain a little just in time to feel all three major muscled in my left leg lock up so tight all I could was yell “oh no!” Being that I was just short of the climbs top it was all I could do pedal with only my right leg and try to loosen up the lock jaw that had possessed my left.
At this point I watched my little friend pedal away at a very reasonable pace in to the distance. Being that we had over taken the Pro ½ field in our escape we had inherited the police escort bikes and their flashing lights, but know as I had been dropped those lights were quickly fading. It was at this point I reached a cross roads in my mind. I will spare you all the torment my mind was going through in deciding what to do.
I am an all or nothing kind of guy, go big or go home and having 1st place ride away from me was a hard pill to swallow. I quickly figured out that this race was no longer about winning any more it was about conquering my own mind and finding an inner motivation I have never previously found.
Turns out I was able to loosen up my legs just enough to pedal and proceeded to push myself toward the finish with a freshly discovered determination. Turns out we had gained enough time on the field I was able to roll across the line 1:20 behind the winner and 6:40 ahead of the group for a respectable 2nd place along with a few more valuable upgrade points.
One last note on the RR, this was a no purse race meaning no prize money which probably led even more to the small fields but I tell you what! take one look at the kids in the picture and tell me you wouldn't give up a cash prize to help support an organization that is making these terminal kids wishes come true.
Max W: 1,255w NP: 325w Distance: 64.2miles Max Speed: 39.5mph Avg Speed: 22.5mph Work: 2,718klj TSS: 261 Elv: 1,678ft Temp: 92.2 degrees
Also, a few min latter my good friend Doug came flying through the finish after beating his entire 45+ group in the sprint and taking the top spot and a championship jersey! Well done Doug! Congrats on the win!
