Posted by Dan on 27. July 2011 05:11
Back in April, I was faced with a tough choice. Do the Dismal Dash Time Trial #2 in Suffolk or the Meadows Farm Circuit Race in Doswell? Support a local race and participate in a time trial or drive several hours to race one of the best crit courses in Virginia. I finally decided to do both the TT in the morning and the 1/2/3 race in Doswell that afternoon. As luck would have it, the need to race to a race before racing off to another race became unnecessary when Southside Tri & Cycle had to cancel their event. Problem solved.
This past weekend, I was faced with a similar conundrum. The Blacksburg Cycling Classic offered two road races and a time trial while further north, the Lost River Classic was another road race with climbing. The former was good for loads of upgrade and BAR points while the latter was part of the GamJams Cat 3 Cup p/b Mountain Khakis, which I was leading following the road race in Franklin. Just like last time, I decided to do both: Lost River on Saturday and Blacksburg on Sunday. I'd miss the first road race and time trial in the omnium, but I'd make it for the new epic climbing course which also happened to be the age-graded state championship. Also just like last time, one of the races was cancelled making the decision a lot easier.
Frank and I would head to Mathias, WV for the Lost River Classic. I did this race two years ago with Wick, who was feeling a little... dehydrated? He wasn't pleased with his performance, but I was OK taking 9th in the Cat 4 race. I was acutely aware that I was no climber and our lead group was crawling with scrawny guys that clearly had more gas in the tank. 9th worked for me.
This year, I wore the GamJams Cat 3 Cup leader's jersey. I felt much better than last year and wasn't saving anything for a race the next day. With Frank's help, it should be a great race with a good finish. Little did I know.
Frank and Dan at the start. Photo by Dave Cobb (Team Traveller)
The race started with a neutral roll-out from the staging area to the first main road. Ben Frederick (Team Traveller), Grayson Church (District Velocity Racing) and I half-jokingly opened a gap. We were quickly brought back and we all rode easy until Mickey Turner (Carytown Bicycle Company) rode off the front. He was later joined by two more riders. The three of them were caught shortly after the first climb but would be on the first of many break attempts. After word came up from Frank that I was clear, I made my own attempt. It didn't take so I simply increased the pace up the second climb in hopes of splitting up the field. Any fragmentation caused by the effort was undone on the descent.
At this point, I found it difficult to stay off the front. I tried several tactics, such as time trialing away while everyone was eating, drinking and swapping stories, but nothing worked. I was looking around for Frank but couldn't find him at all. By the time we got to the first climb on the second lap, I was already drifting backwards. As I reached the summit, I did a double take when I thought I saw Frank standing next to the church with a puzzled "What are you doing off the back?" look. Sure enough, it was Frank. He flatted. Shanked by the Wheel Goblin again.
I caught the group on the descent, but sat in, staying as far from the front as I could get. Next time around, I'd get gapped again and this time I couldn’t close it. One lap to go and I'd been dropped. My legs had become useless and I finished this race on sheer animal will.
On the back climb, I picked up Jake King (Hot Tubes Junior Development Cycling Team) and hauled him toward the finish as best I could. We passed a few riders on our way to the final climb. With 1k to go, there were two riders in sight. I pulled Jake past one, but couldn't catch the other. Jake says, "I don't want to punk you, but I think I can catch that guy." "Go get some, Jake!" I croaked. So he goes up the road and catches Nessim Mezrahi (All American Bicycle Club) finishing 20th. I finished 22nd, losing the GamJams leader's jersey by 3 points.
After finishing several hours after the leaders, we determined it was my aggressive riding that did me in. Too much time on the front, too high a pace going up the first two climbs. Not enough sitting in.
The next day I climbed aboard the Madone and set out for a penitential 100 mile ride. It was 96 degrees when I left. wunderground.com cheerfully reported it felt like 109. I made it an hour and a half before exploding. I managed to salvage most of the ride, knocking 30 miles off the distance and adding 20 minutes to what should have been a normal time, excluding several stops for water, Gatorade, Coke and prayer. Temps during our race the day before were 91-95 with a heat index of 95-101. I'm desperately hoping it was heat that caused my disastrous riding this weekend and not something far worse, like poor tactics or declining performance.
Thanks to National Capital Velo Club and Raw Talent Ranch for putting on another awesome race. Next stop is Shenandoah for the Shenandoah Time Trial. Sign up now. You know you want to.