The crit went pretty much as expected. I chased some early attacks for the first half or so and tried to stay up near the front on the premes just in case someone wanted to try an attack just afterward…but that never happened. About 5 laps from the finished I tried to sit in and rest for a planned leadout for Paul in the second to last lap. Alas that lap came and I pulled up beside Paul, but it just wasn’t right so he waved me off. I sat along waiting for the next lap to see if something would happen, but alas, nothing again. I’m not sure whether I could have been much help in a lead out as the pace had really amped up by then, but I was willing to try. Oh well…I did my best to stay up in the final sprint just so I wouldn’t get any gaps and consequent time penalties. Bubba made an awesome escape simply by powering away, so I picked up a 2 second gap/penalty anyway. On top of Bubba’s 20 second 1st place bonus and one five-second preme I was now 27 seconds back in 13th place. In the end, it was a clean safe race with no crashes. The team was real active throughout, which made it pretty fun. Although it was hot, I didn’t think it was too bad, as the breeze from riding seemed to cool things down a bit.
On to the time trial. I felt pretty good, especially after some cute gal commented about how she liked my fancy disk wheel. No comment about the rider though. It was very hot, but on good advise, I soaked myself with water before the start (Race Prep Tip #1). This, I found, was very helpful. By this time we had also heard that many riders had missed turns, so I was sure to be vigilant for every one. Someone gave me a little tip to help. First leg 4 miles, second leg 2 miles, third leg 3 miles, and 1 mile for the finish. That’s 10 miles, but some how someone snuck another .7 in somewhere, cuz the final distance was 10.7. Two miles in my heartrate set a new high for the season of 185. Images of blood vessels in my head bursting and squirting all over the road kept passing through my mind. I didn’t know if I could stay at that level for too long, but overall felt O.K. I passed my 30 second man about 3 miles out, and could see I was gaining on my minute man. Caught him about 5 miles out. Then about 8 miles in I get passed by a Morgan Stanley rider who started a minute after me. I did my best to keep pace with him on the way in, again pushing my heartrate to a new limit of 192. I started counting down to the inevitable explosion. I really think the combination of altitude and heat pushes the heartrate higher than normal….but I’m not sure. Just a theory at this point. Luckily I never exploded as this would have messed up my wheel.
Anyway, I thought I was doing O.K, but finished 12th…I guess that’s O.K. Average speed was 25mph. This moved me up one notch to 12th on G.C. And the guy who passed me took second behind Bubba, so I didn’t feel so bad.
In the road race, we were lucky to have the morning start (a little cooler). I run into Bubba and advised him that if he had a Wheelmen jersey on he would have 10 guys working for him today. Didn’t seem to bother him much. First lap was pretty quick but then settled down as we hit the rough section. Here is where John Marshall went off the front. I was trying to just stay in whatever group included Paul and Bubba. Soon Paul sprints up and bridges to John, but Bubba doesn’t react. Could it have been any better? Both our key guys are in the break, and the top opponent is back here with us. Greg B. rides up to me and says it looks like we just got a vacation! The pack stays together through the hills till we start decending and then Bubba attacks. We all chase him down, then he attacks again. On about the 5th time, the pack can’t (or won’t chase). Jonathan bridges up to Bubba, and I see that I’m being left behind so I bridge up behind Jonathan. But when Bubba is going full tilt, bridging up takes virtually everything. Just as I make the gap, Bubba puts in another effort and splits the group, taking only two other riders with him. Unfortunately, I’m behind the split and too blown to chase back up, so I sit up and rejoin the main pack. In retrospect, this was the critical moment, and I should have dug deeper to stay with Bubba. I’m not doing too well with strategy.
I notice that Bubba is up the road about 30 seconds or so, but not much more. I tried to rally a few folks to chase, but nobody wanted to. Greg wisely comes up and asks me why I’m so stupidly riding at the front. Duh…he’s right. Bad strategy…so I’m a little too eager. I settle down, but all these other riders just sit on my wheel, regardless of how much I slow down or swerve. I call them a bunch of names, but they won’t stop harassing me. Fine…see ya later. I slow down a little, then sprint away to give my best shot to catch the group with Bubba. I assumed no one was helping him, so I hoped he would eventually tire. Bubba tire before me...dream on! I got a few hundred yards ahead and a motorcycle rides up and tells me Bubba’s group is 30 seconds up the road and the front group is 1 minute up. GOOD NEWS! I LOVE THESE MOTORCYCLE GUYS!! Cool…maybe I can make it! It’s TT for the next several miles, and I can see the group ahead. I see Wheelmen jerseys. It looks like they’re all back together. I’m excited as for once it looks like I’ll make the bridge. As I just make the catch, a motorcycle drops back, checks my number, and tells me to come to the other side of the line to come around these guys. “What are you talking about??” I ask.
He advises me that these are the 4’s, and my group is further up the road. “How much further?” I ask. “Oh….see those telephone poles up there. Just past them.” Yeah right….I’m not catching them. I HATE THESE MOTORCYCLE GUYS!!
Now I have to decide whether to try to pull some time on the group behind me, or just fall back and socialize. I just figured to keep a moderate pace, and eventually I get caught about a full lap from where I left. Ride together til the end, and sprint it off with Greg (who was 2 seconds behind me) only to lose that one. Oh well…best workout I’ve had in a long time.
Funny thing was while finishing the 3rd lap with the group, all the scenery looked new, even though I’d been through there twice before. When you’re riding hard, you just don’t notice a whole lot of scenery. I can’t comment much about the action up front since, as usual, I wasn’t there.
Best of all, it was great fun riding with all the Reno and Truckee guys and being part of a team. Cudos to John and Paul for some stellar riding. I hope I can be like them someday. At least my TT wheel is cooler!
See y’all Tuesday night.
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