After a whirlwind two-day return to Seattle, I am back on
the plane and heading South-east towards Alabama and two weeks of crit racing:
Sunny King and Charlotte.
It’s easy in this profession to always be moving forward-
always focusing upon the next race or the next trip. Often times experiences or
moments get left in the past, simply a hazy memory in our relentless journey
towards... something. I think that’s one of the reasons bike racing, as well as
bike racers, as a whole exists. We have short-term memories: often choosing to
forget the pain each race brings, the shuffle of travel on our daily lives, and
the really bad moments. You always remember the good moments simply as a
snapshot and the bad moments as something to build upon. What happens to the
details? One of the reasons that I started this blog was to have an excuse to
do something involving funny pictures. Another reason was I wanted to have a
record of all the experiences that I get the pleasure of having while doing
this racing thing.
San Dimas Stage Race was a late addition to my calendar, and
one that I was very excited about having the chance to do again. After throwing
up/away my Tucson Bicycle Classic, I was ready for an early-season stage race
to get a chance to help the team in any way I could.
I’ve done SDSR before, with mediocre to average results. Although
the road race is sketchy and the time trial is uphill, I’ve always enjoyed
racing here. The punchy climbs in the road race suit me well and although
fairly steep, the time trial is a time trial. And I like those.
Friday morning started off with me spending money, which
seems to be quite standard for life on the road. We didn’t race till later that
afternoon, and I needed coffee. Again, this is something quite standard for my
life. However, the Motel 6 had no means for boiling water, so Carson and I
purchased a $20 kettle at Target, effectively turning our room into AeroPress
party central. After somewhere between 3 and 18 AeroPresses, we rode to the
race. Then we went right past the race and headed for an hour-long spin. I
schemed heavily here: things like pacing tactics, last minute weight loss
methods, and which flavor drink mix would best bring out my crazy. I settled
for lemonade flavor, and got about my warmup.
For those who haven’t done the TT up Glendora Mt Rd, it
starts off with about a minute and a half of false-flat heading into the first
corner, and with that the first pitches of the climb. The overall effort is
4.25 miles, or if you want to make your race seem longer, some amount larger
than that in Km’s. The first 90 seconds are the only time above 20mph all race.
Time trial reports are boring. I rode hard, was happy with
how I paced it, and finished feeling like this:
You can choose which one I was, because truthfully I felt a
bit like both.
Results came in and I was very pleased to finish 6th
on the stage. This was my best result in a time trial at this level and I was
content, for many reasons. I’ve put in a lot of work this winter on the time
trial bike, so I knew I had the practice at sustained efforts for an extended
amount of time. However, this wasn’t really a time trial as much as it was a
hillclimb. I was on a road bike, not a time trial machine. Sure they are
different styles of races, but in the end it is still a matter of focus, brain
disease, and desire. Our team stacked the top 6, with Gregory in 2nd by a
second and Daniel not far behind in 4th.
Then, something amazing happened. We went to Olive Garden
for dinner.
Besides that, there was an earthquake. My favorite part of
this earthquake was when every questionable character outside smoking at the
Motel 6 became an expert on natural occurrences like these- trying to make
conversations about the epicenter and wavelength frequencies.
The earthquake caused some concerns for our road race
course, as the loop circles a large dam. Our start was delayed, and our race shortened
as a result. Luckily, the dam didn’t break because I don’t like swimming that
much.
Luis got up the road in the breakaway, taking the lead in
the KOM and Sprint jersey competitions. Myself, Gregory and Daniel all tried
our hand at following moves across to the break, but had no success. I finished
comfortably in the front group (for the first time at SDSR), but the break had stayed
away. It was an unfavorable move for us, and as a result we all lost several
spots in the GC.
Going into the crit, we had Luis in 4th, Gregory
in 8th, Daniel in 9th, and myself in 12th on
the GC. We had two goals: 1) protect Luis’ lead in the sprint competition 2) be
active with Greg, Daniel and myself, forcing a difficult race which would
hopefully allow Luis to get away in the final moments gaining precious GC
seconds.
Both Carson and I wore a long sleeve skinsuit, which means
we meant business. Also hilarious, it was warm out and pretty much the only
people wearing long sleeves in the race were Carson and myself- the two dudes
from Seattle who in theory should have been way warmer than anyone.
Also, Tela came to watch me, and since she doesn’t get to
see me race much anymore I knew it was important to not suck.
For the two intermediate sprints (60 min to go and 30 min to
go), we had to make sure that either Luis won or one of us scored points to
keep the closest threat from moving into first in the competition. I was in
great position for the first sprint and won it- taking the 15 points and a 3
second time bonus. The second sprint came soon enough, and I found myself
second wheel with Luis behind me. I started my sprint with 800 m to go,
cornered hard, and dug to the line. Luis stayed on my wheel, letting me win the
sprint while still securing points for himself.
With the sprint competition locked up, it was time to start thinking
about the finish.
Luis towed me around, providing by far the smoothest last five laps of any crit that I’ve done at this level. I lost his wheel with one to go, made a big surge to get it back, and went into the final corner 5th wheel. This is also where I finished, which makes it my best crit result at this level since 2011.
The time bonuses from the intermediate sprints moved me back up to tenth
overall (take that Kennett!) and into second in the green jersey competition. I
was happy with how I rode, but also needed to keep the weekend in perspective.
This is my job. Our team’s job is to win races. We didn’t
win any of the stages, so although my personal results were strong for where
I’ve been in the past, there is still room to progress. Because of that, I am
happier with winning the intermediate sprints than I am with the 5th
in the race. I did a job that helped the team achieve an objective, and as I
continue to develop in my first season as a professional, I need to continue to
do what I can to help my team and teammates achieve their goals.
San Dimas was a good momentum and confidence builder for
myself and I plan on growing as a rider with every opportunity I have to race.
This post was long, sorry. There also weren’t any jokes, and most people probably didn’t read this far. That’s fine though, because this weekend is something that I want to have record of. I was able to look back at my first trip to San Dimas in 2011, and I plan on looking back on this post when I win San Dimas in the future.
Reflection over, NOW I can start thinking about the next
races.
No comments:
Post a Comment