Whew! What a weekend! It's been a difficult month or so of hard racing for me. I'd been watching the reg for this race and wasn't sure whether or not I was going to do it, but after watching teammates Judd, Dan, Robin, and Steve throw down in the P12's out at Land Park and Jones'n super hard to be out there with them...that, combined with Judd rolling up afterwards and pointing at me with a forceful, "You need to be out here with us!" then following it up with a, "Don't you want to help AJ out in the P12's too!?!" sort of jump started me in to seriously thinking about getting my upgrade points.
AJ was to be with his mom this weekend so I had free reign to do what I wanted. No teammates to work for or to turn to for help so it was a bit of a test as well to see if I could do anything on my own. I pulled the trigger the night before the event. Luckily they'd extended the reg. M35+123's only showed 3 registered, so, 3's it was.
The venue was awesome! The Circuit, TT, and RR were all easily accessible from Copper Town Square where the parking was perfect. Think Back to the Future's clock tower for a visual of the quaint town square. Great coffee shop with free wifi 20' from the start line of the Circuit, which, as you all should know by now, was extremely difficult for me being that I hadn't even had half of my normal caffein intake for the morning. :) Not one to really ever want to compete against Jr's for lots of reasons, (unless I'm trying to help out my boy) I was a bit apprehensive about registering for the 3's. Luckily there were only 5 or so in the field, one of which was Alex Freund racing with his Dad. One of my rules as a Masters racer is that if there's a chance to help out a Jr., no matter who he is, do it, within reason that is. After all, these kids are the future of our sport and you never know what they'll remember. A negative impression is not one that I wish to leave. In most cases, especially in regards to Crits, these kids are racing their 2nd race of the day on tired legs after throwing down in the Jr's race for which, at least those that are 3's and above, can't earn upgrade points. So, the boys only chance to earn points towards their CAT 2 is in the E3 races against not only young guns on their way up the ranks but older guys, like myself, who's time has come and gone and are only looking for personal glory...all of whom have fresh legs. So, you understand my apprehension in registering for the E3 race.
The course was a 5 mile loop starting with a quick 6 turn loop through the town square then a fast stretch leaving town with a few rollers and a 180 at the furthest point and an uphill finish with better than excellent pavement. I have to say that it was one if the coolest courses I've done. There were 30 guys in 3's. We had a handful of Masters but most were fit and fast 20 somethings looking for points themselves.
We were set to do 7-8 laps depending on the time. There were 3 primes of .5 time bonuses at laps 6, 4, and 2. The first 2 laps were pretty tame. Kovaris had 5 guys, Metromint had 2, DBC had 2, Roaring Mouse had 3, Taleo, 2 etc. There were a few flyers that stayed out for a half a lap or so, but nothing serious. With about 4 to go I jumped in a 4 man break with Paul Drywall, a 35+er with MS, Bob Delp also a 35+er with Vitamin Water, and one other, can't remember him though. Paul and I kept the pressure on the others and made sure we stayed tight and steady. With 2 to go, a few guys were able to bridge up. A DBC guy, Teeter (who'd later win the TT), and young Alex Freund. Together we were able to maintain a 10" gap. Delp started taking breaks and I was all over him. "You'd better not be saving for the F'ing sprint!" He looked super fit with a classic "sprinters" build, short and stocky. "Don't worry, I'm not!" I was working my butt off and so was Paul. With about 200m from the finish line Delp came around and assured us that he was just "pulling through" but I wasn't taking any chances and jumped at around the 100m mark and took the last prime to the ringing of the final lap bell. Rolling through the town square for the last lap at the front I began to wonder if we'd be able to stay out and if I'd burned too many matches. We all came back together and surprisingly picked up right where we left off. Paul was a huge asset in the break, strong steady pulls and helping me keep everyone steady. We hit the turnaround and saw the chase hammering. I was happy to see that the Kovaris guys were nowhere to be seen as they were oddly just sitting in. I thought for sure they'd send everyone to the front to bring us back. I started yelling, "Here they come!" "We can make this stick fellas!" and promptly began rallying them to "grab that wheel" while I sat at the back with Alex on my wheel trying to make sure he had legs for the finish. We sat out a few rotations before jumping back in.
With about 300m to go we started slowing a bit as everyone started looking around waiting for someone to jump. I pulled through one last time and sat around 3rd wheel with Alex somewhere behind me. Suddenly everyone seemed to relax. I followed suit, sitting up, I dropped my head and took a deep "exhausted" breath as I nonchalantly turned for a weary look over my shoulder. Turning back, with cat-like reflexes I hit the drops and drilled it at the 200m mark. I hit it with everything I had for about 100m before taking a peek back as I hit the base of the final riser up to the finish. They were coming hard but I still had about a 30m gap. I was way over geared for the sprint up to the line but didn't want to risk shifting and having a mechanical so I just hammered the big gear. I felt my legs shredding to pieces with every crank and threw my bike across the line with barely a bike length for the win. The first for me since I was a 4 with DBC almost 2 years ago. At first I didn't believe it. I started wondering if there was a break that somehow got up the road without me knowing. I started looking up the road and around the town square for other riders in my field but didn't see any. "Did I just win that!?!" I asked myself. It sank in as riders came up and started congratulating me. Guess I'm just not used to it. My best finish in a M35+123's race was a 6th at Madera RR up till then. It wasn't quite like racing against the thoroughbreds of the M35+123's, but I'll take it. Points in the bank.
I had 3 hours to sit around and wait before my TT. So, Dawn and I kicked it at the coffee shop till around 12:30 before heading back over to the car to start warming up. My legs felt like SHIT! I spun for about 30 min before even getting my HR up just trying to loosen them up. I'd talked to a few P12's about the course while I was spinning. They told me that it was hard and that there was never really a point where it got easier. The wind had picked up since they did theirs and they were still warning me about it so I tried to prepare myself mentally. Supposedly it was mainly flat with a few rollers and bumpy sections with one stinger about 3/4 of the way in before the turn around. If I was smart, I would have just spun the TT and saved myself for the RR. I tried doing that but my .30 guy was just dangling out there like a friggin' carrot...or mechanical rabbit so I stupidly tried to chase him down. I stubbornly stayed in my big ring and stood up just before reaching the top of the "stinger" on the way out and felt the legs twinge. I immediately sat back down and didn't try that again. I passed my .30 guy at the 2k sign and powered the rest of the way. Decided not to wait for the results and headed strait back to the car, loaded up and headed for the hotel in Sonora. We had a great room overlooking main st. in Sonora, but, one thing to remember for next time...try to get a room that isn't right across the street from a bar. Dawn slept like a rock, but I on the other hand didn't sleep until they closed down. There must have been some drunk chick flashing cars as they went by or something. I can't tell you how many times I was awoken by a, "WOOOHOOHOOO! HE-HE-HE!" Think Elphaba from the Wizard of Oz, yeah that same tone and crackle ALL FLIPPIN' NIGHT! The visual that you're getting right now, try having that in your head as you're trying to sleep... :0/
Hit the RR course about 45 min before the start. Was a chilly morning, but the sky was blue and the wind was minimal. Checked the results and I was sitting in 16th place overall. Told you, my legs were trashed and they didn't feel all that much better. Rolled around a bit before the start to try and loosen up the molasses that had pooled in my lower extremities but figured I'd warm up out on the course. The temperature crept up quite a bit just sitting there before the start. The course was a 23 mile loop with 2 tight 180 turn arounds and a T intersection that we'd go through 3 times each lap. Thought it was going to be a cluster F with all the groups out on the course at the same time, but, surprisingly, it was smooth and incident free. Right at around the 5 mile mark of the first lap some jerkoff drilled it up the hill to the s turn. The same S turn used in the Copperopolis RR course. It was on some of the roughest roads I've raced on yet. In fact, there wasn't even roads on some sections, just busted up blacktop and dirt. Fast forward to the last lap. We all stayed together until the S turn before the long flat crosswind section. The same 2 guys who won our TT with faster times than the P12's went to the front and put the hammer down one right after the other. I got stuck too far back and was closing my 2nd gap with about 50m from the break when a Metromint guy popped and was pedaling backwards coming right at me. I yelled up to stay right, so he swerves left, then realized what I'd said and swerved back right just as I was passing him causing me to hit the brakes. Yelling every cuss word I knew, I pulled at my bar, fighting my bike and throwing it all over the road in an effort to catch on I glance back and see someone on my wheel and yell, "C'mon man!" as I flap my left elbow. It's a Tiene Duro Jr. and he pulls around me and gutters it. "Thanks kid!" I think as I watch him close the gap and jump back on. Little did I know that he'd flatted and was using my spare wheel that he'd grabbed out of the follow vehicle. Kid didn't even thank me later for getting him back up to the lead group, or for use of my wheel. Kids these days.
The chase, at least for me, for all intents and purposes was over right then and there, but I still tried solo for another few miles, thinking that at any moment now they'd sit up and I'd have a chance. It never happened and I just watched as the gap increased little by little. I sat up and fell back to a Webcore guy who had that same Metromint guy on his wheel. After a bit of yelling, we pulled it together and were rotating at a good pace and seemingly beginning to pull ourselves up. We hit one of the really bad stretches of road where there was a gravel section about 2' wide for the whole length if it. just to the left side. I'd noticed guys riding in it on the 2 previous laps and right on cue, both of them jump over to it. I stayed out of it and said, "You guys are taking a big risk riding over there." The Webcore guy pipes up and says, "Yeah but it's sooo much smoother!" No shit, just as soon as he finishes his sentence, "PSSSHPSSSSHPSSSSH!" "Never mind!" he says with a Garfield-esque, monotone voice as he falls back, half way through the final lap with a puncture. Hated loosing him. The 2 of us continued to chased all the way to the final turn around picking up Bob with Vitamin Water who'd fallen off the back along the way. He was fried like we were, but gave what he had. When we passed the break of 9 guys headed the other way, they were surprised to see us so close. "Wait up!" I said as we passed them...they didn't. We were still about 250m from the turnaround which meant that it was pretty much over, we were toast. We decided to sit up and let the pack catch us and try to rally them. Once they caught us, there was only about 3 of them working, the rest were just sitting in. One of them was Roland Freund. He was hammering at the front as they caught us. I guess some foolish young gun had asked him if he was going to work because all I heard as I fell into rotation was him yelling back with his thick German accent, "I'm 52 yeas old and you've been on my wheel for ze whole race!" Not a word was uttered after that. We were able to rally them for a few miles and with about 100m to go and with the finish in sight, I went. I was able to grab the field sprint and 10th place. Kicked me up to 12th overall.
So, I'm sitting at the gas station after the RR adding a little oil to the engine when a huge diesel 4X4 king cab truck pulls up beside me. Out jumps 5 "Cowboys" who look like they'd been punchin' cattle all day. A short stocky feller walks up and asks, "Say there, who puts on this here race?" being sure to nail every stereotypical trait with spot on perfection. Fully expecting to get the typical ear full of complaints of cyclists parking on the road, or urinating in public, or riding on "Their" roads, I answered "Top Sport." "Whell, I tell ya, we sure would have liked to hear about it, cause we ride these here roads all the time and would have loved to race in it!" The look on my face must have said it all because he returned the same ear to ear grin...only with tobaco filled teeth.
Good weekend of some hard racing. Couldn't have asked for better weather. Will definitely plan to do it again next year. And I hear say of some hills being added to that thar road race...just to keep the TTer's honest. :)
Thanks for reading.
~ J
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