Killington 2013: Where the Stages are known by Weather, not event

The weather was looking primo for the race weekend. That went to absolute trash on Tues/Wed. Rain, cold, wind, chance of snow Saturday night into Sunday.

Also - no pictures posted yet...sooo there is minimal photographic evidence that the weekend even happened...

Ford Transit - award for "Best Bike Race Car" of the year.

This is how we warmed up for the Circuit race:
Simultaneous Tour of Belgium & Giro spectating!

This weather only made the very dangerous circuit race even more dangerous, thanks to numb hands, inability to think, and slick roads/poor visibility. Our circuit was reduced to 3 laps by the start (54mi vs 72mi). The 15% descent with a tight turn was crazy. FULL on brakes, still moving fairly fast. Luckily there were no crashes here. I want to state right here, the new BBS rain/windjackets are out of this world. The VOMax jacket with the Invexus coating is phenomenal. Both Andrew and I were dry under out jackets. Hands were obliviously pretty cold. With about 6K to go on lap 2, the referee comes by telling us that we are only doing 2 laps instead of 3. I knew this late in the lap it was going to lead to one situation known as a CFS or, among cyclists, "bat-shit crazy". People immediately began launching attacks off the front, but it was clear nothing would stick. Serious crosswinds, hard rain, and FAST finish meant one thing: more danger than we anticipated. With 3K to go, I was moving up and I heard the classic pre-crash noises: crunching, shouting, scraping. Then I saw it: mid-pack there was (likely) a touch of wheels, then 5-6 guys go down, sliding at about 35mph on the slick road. I immediately bail to the right, off the road and into the dirt. Success. This made me decide to finish the race in the pack and not go for the sprint. Result: Same time, 40th or so place, and 12sec behind the leader.

This is what happens when 6 guys take over a 4 person condo...insanity.

Road Race: 75 Miles, 2x7Km climb, 1x3K dirt climb, 1x8K (very hard) summit finish. This was the stage that will set the GC basis, with the final TT allowing some small place changes. It was "decent" weather: sporadic light rain, windy, and about 45F. The race was of a normal pace for the early portions. Andrew had a valve issue with both wheels that resulted in needing a double wheel change at mile 3 of the race. This was not a great start to the day, but fortunately I was nearby when the issue began up the initial climb from the start. I dropped with him for the change/chase, which actually was a pretty serious effort to get back onto the field after losing about 1 minute! After that it was recover and relax on the long (15mi) downhill section. First time up the 7K climb was hard, but nothing big happened. I worked to try to get off the front after the KOM point, and (finally) after a handful of efforts a group of 5 of us got some distance...I did not know we were hitting this same - rather brutal - climb again or I would have sat in conserving energy - which ended up not being my theme of the day, more to come on that. The mini-break got about 20-30 seconds into the next time up the climb, which was very quickly erased. I quickly realized the cost of my move - the big guns whom I had pegged (Keith Kelly, Dereck Treadwell, Anthony Clark) were pushing the pace HARD...and I had no legs to hold their speedy climbing, especially when coming into the climb on a hard effort. I tried to stick to them with Eric Follen (who was in the small break effort) and we really tried to mentally keep each other on target, but both of us soon became detached and were suffering just to hold the front of the main pack. After the KOM point, it was clear that the break up ahead had a notable gap and the firepower to be a serious race winning threat. The peloton didn't chase, but didn't sit up. The gap remained steady while Keith Kelly got far ahead from the rest of the break. What happened next I still can't figure out why I did it. We were 1K from the feed zone, coming into a long 2-3% grade and I just slammed on the gas, hard, from the front of the pack and didn't look around for about 20 seconds. I had gotten off the front by about 15 meters. I kept the effort high and now had 25m and could see I had moved towards the break, which had about 1 minute on us. Settling in, eyeing the break, I quickly realized I could make the solo bridge - especially if they decided to slow down and take on water/food in the feed zone - but it was going to be tough. I did a couple looks back and forth, and then committed. Shortly thereafter, I checked to make sure I wasn't being chased down.

Yes, snow.

What I saw was quite a shocker: Andrew got away from the bunch with John Herrick! I refused to slow my chase, as I had found a perfect rhythm for my chase (and I knew Andrew/John easily had the strength to swipe me up without me slowing). Through the feed zone we worked and then caught the break. I thought to myself, "This is it - we have made the winning move". Pacelining, the 8 of us built up what could only have been a pretty solid gap on the field. Over the next 25 miles we worked our asses off to keep steady and smooth. Regardless of our strong effort, the Hot Tubes team was not going to be okay without a rider in the break. A group of 8-10 got away from the peloton and (impressively) chased us down. We were now 17 guys, who definitely would be battling for the victory and GC spots. Only problem with such a large group...you get a lot of dissent and refusal to work for the group. Our group of 7 was doing a great job, and so was the other group of 10. Combined, however, was much different. We still kept moving (into the massive headwind), but it was neither smooth nor steady at this point. With 10 miles to go I knew I didn't have the legs to make a contending effort up the Cat 2 finishing climb. I convinced myself I had a single option: bank some time from the group that wasn't working together. I attacked 3 times and got nothing. Chad Young (Hot Tubes) rolled off the front and no one chased. After he got a good gap, I attacked and bridged to him solo - thankfully dragging no one with me. We caught Keith Kelly and worked with him, trying to gain on the group behind us. I was so burnt at this point that it came my turn to pull through and I literally couldn't get around Keith to take the lead...this was the defining moment that came about 5 miles too soon: the entirety of the climb would be survival for me, rather than the last 1000 meters where it gets ugly.

Rolling into the climb with a 20 second gap, I knew it was only a matter of time until we were swept back into the break. What I didn't know - is how freaking quickly it would happen. Dereck Treadwell took to the front with the purpose of a man who wanted to win this race for the second year in a row. He was also fresher than the rest because Keith (his teammate) was up the road the ENTIRE day, so he was able to relax and not work in the breakaway. (Actually, he did take a few pulls to keep the break's pace high enough to fend off chasers but not high enough to reel in his teammate. Sadly there was no way to do both of these with the Hot Tubes squad and their impressive chase...overall Dereck ended up doing the smart thing). As the group came through, I did my best to accelerate up to their pace, but just couldn't do it! It was now simply a matter of suffering and not letting the stragglers get away. The race was already blown apart 500m into the climb. I knew a top 5 was long gone and the chance of a top 10 was disintegrating fast. Finally, one last guy came by with about 1K to go in the first section of climbing. Without actually speaking, we agreed to pace the climb then work together on the ensuing flats/downhills to save ourselves from losing as much time as possible...we were both struggling, wanting to recover before the final kick of the climb. He started to cramp right when the road went upward and I knew that pushing on alone was the only way to reduce my losses. There was a MetLife guy up the road and I hyperfocused on him. He had 200m on me with 1K to go. I came into the final climb and told myself that I could not go into a gear smaller than my 39x24 until I caught him. This actually worked until I was about 50m back when I could no longer turn the gear. I shifted and just worked to bring down the gap. Finally, with just under 500m left I came past him and made sure to not hesitate for an instant. Tomorrow was the TT and I was absolutely shelled (along with everyone else), but needed every last second of time gap on those behind me. I ended up finishing 14 seconds ahead of the MetLife guy (Landen Wark-Acebo) and in 11th place. Ugh. All that and I barely missed the top 10! Nevertheless, I was now in 11th GC - easily in the upgrade points, which was something I wanted to be in for this weekend. Top 10 or 5 was really what I desired...so it was all up to the TT.

The TT rig, known as Rabbit. So far it has lived to the name of going out too hard and dying...
Thanks to my Coach, Kurt, for setting me up with some laaagit wheelz!!

TT: 11miles, insane winds (head/cross), and actually nice weather! I was hoping for a big day today, as I was only 22 seconds from the top 10 and 24 seconds from 9th place. Warming up, I knew it was going to be tough, but I focused on the task at hand. Landen (the guy who was only 14 seconds behind me in GC) missed his TT start by about 15 seconds...which meant that my buffer from 12th place was now about 30 seconds, which helped settled my mind a bit. I went out on the TT with the effort I expected to hold for 25 minutes. I felt labored (as expected) but strong, considering. I caught Landen within 2 miles and worked to keep the effort steady and drop him as I forged on, now with my focus 100% on gaining time on those who were behind me (higher placed riders start later - so they have the advantage of seeing the competition who are placed lower down). Whatever momentum I had going was completely gone. I had no gas left and felt like I was running on fumes...it was only 3 miles into the 11 mile race! Landen passed me, and we would yo-yo within 5 seconds for the entire rest of the race. Not a good sign for me gaining a place in GC, but at least it meant my nearest competitor would not overtake me.

I was passed by Jonathan Brown (the guy in 10th place) at the halfway point, which sealed the deal on me beating him. I tried to use Jon as a motivation to keep pushing on, but there was nothing to give...my heart rate couldn't even get above 170bpm - I usually can hold a 180 HR for over half an hour! I focused on getting through the race as quickly as possible...but the "# kilometers to go" signs seemed to go by even more slowly. The last little rise on the main road nearly brought Landen and I to a standstill. Ouch. We were both about as ugly as we were the day before. The last 2K is mostly downhill, so I absolutely gunned it around the turn to get up to speed. I pushed through the finish and felt like I was done for with 500m to go. My effort was exactly as hard as I wanted to go, but my performance was rather poor. I finished in 26:53 and 27th place. Brad Warren, the guy who started 24 seconds ahead of me finished 11 seconds faster, so I did not gain a GC place. I actually lost a place overall and slipped to 12th place GC.

As crappy as the performance was, I went as hard as I could have and only lost 1 place. The highlight of my day was my teammate Andrew, who absolutely crushed the 11 miles course...riding but 5 seconds slower than the Cat 2 winner. He got a decisive 2nd place finish on the day! It would have even been good for 2nd place in the Pro/1 Race. It was a phenomenal race and effort, especially after he was in the break with me all day. He also chased on early in the road race from that double-flat...and chased on again because he flatted once more before the second climb. Chapeau to Andrew for the awesome performance...and the only photo in this report, because none have been posted yet.

Andrew, a mere 5 seconds from THE Keith Kelly. Everyone else was so far back they kept the podium to 2 people.
(Okay, fine, 3rd place didn't show up)

Andrew's effort gained him a massive 8 places and put him into 13th GC, right behind me in 12th. It was a good weekend just to sack up and race hard, it was better that we were both able to make the break on Sunday and finish in the points for GC.

Tuscon Bike Classic: Multi-Level Sufferfest

Early season races are always a thing of interest in the world of the athlete: from the borderline-recreational amateurs in the fast local group ride to the WorldTour Pro at Tour Down Under...and every one of us in between.

It gets more interesting when your race is at a point you are supposed to not yet be at race fitness levels, something you desire weeks or months down the road. I, like all of you back in Maine, are not in race season fitness and don't expect to be cleaning house...yet!! However, these guys and gals in Tucson are in the middle of their season and flying. I first experienced this when I got crushed on the Saturday Shootout ride. I experienced it again the weekend before TBC at a crit, where I did not have the sprint legs I thought I "should" have against other Cat 2 & 3 riders.

Here's a sweet shot from a crit two weekends ago. (No pics from the stage race yet...)

Breaking in Phoenix for her first couple races. 2 crits, spent some time off the front but didn't get anything good for results. Good thing is she got very ready for the stage race! ...still need to cut all that extra stem...

Nevertheless, TBC was an early season stage race - only my second ever - and my first real 'test' since a power test prior to my departure to Tucson. I would have my first race on my new, pretty TT bike, my first 'big time' road race (80 miles), and my first complete stage race. (My first stage race was 3 stages crammed into 2 days, and the RR was 45mi with the crit being about 14mi).

One of my goals for 2013 is "No Goals": to not focus on a singular end result, but to focus on small things that lead to big things. This was first introduced to me in its raw power by my Track coach @ NYA, Coach Mazzurco - a man I still call "Coach". If I talk about "Coach" it is Mazzurco, if I talk about "My Coach" it is my cycling coach, Kurt. So, in the process of planning out the race goals - Kurt made me step back and essentially one goal was there: Be Smart. This is extremely challenging to me, in cycling strength is not strength; intelligence is strength. Intelligence + strength increases result quality. I digress.

Friday: Time Trial: a 3.2 mile downhill/uphill 1-2 punch. Overall it gains some elevation and is quite difficult, with the bonus of headwind and dust being blown deep into your lungs.

The TT warm up on the road bike went fairly well. Hot, but well. Switched it to the TT bike for a few start efforts and was going to head to the line. Except something wasn't right. I shortly found out my cassette was jingling like Santa's Sleigh. I had to loop wayyy around to get back to the parking lot (one way roads). Time was now super tight. Thank goodness for the Optum team mechanic, who let me borrow his cassette tool!! I TT'd the 1 mile to the start and got to the line literally 3 seconds before my start and had to start from the flat, not the TT ramp. I came to a complete stop, heard the beep, and was off - not good. I went crazy to try to make up for a bad start. I was already blowing up. Pushing though, I somehow caught the guy in front of me (30 sec) as the course shifted uphill and realized this wouldn't be a good gauge...I aimed to drop as much time into this guy as possible and look for the next man up the road. I cracked, had to leave the big ring, and pushed again - trying to regain some speed after the sharp uphill. I felt like a brick. Crossing the line I nearly "lost my lunch" and my mouth was dried beyond my imagination for not having water for a mere 8 minutes. I finished in 11th place, 34" back from the leader...but only 10" out of 6th place. The next two days were going to be chalked up as "ride smart" and aiming for a good stage result, which could lead to a good swing in the GC standings.

Saturday: 82 miles, 4x20mi laps, 4000 feet total climbing, uphill (non-climbing) finish.

Oh, it was going to be 90F+ yet again. I was not happy, yet again. I do well in the "Belgian Classic" weather, with a record of 3-0 [yes 3 wins, 0 losses] in rainy/cold races (under 50 with rain). I've never raced in above 85 for more than 40 minutes, where you don't even really need water. Anyways, I came prepared as I could - but I learned that level of preparation only gets you 3 laps of 'comfort'....not 4. I was well suited for the fuel demands of a hard 80 mile race, but only 3 water bottles did not suffice! I had about 1500kcal on me: 1 homemade gel flask, a couple homemade bars, and my trusty PROBAR. I'd eat the bars early, then save the gel for when the effort got super high and chewing becomes less enjoyable.

The race started with a break 4 miles in. I told myself WAIT TRAVIS incessantly. It stuck, I didn't go with the break. By two laps they were 2 minutes up (I was sitting in just eating and drinking). I started to get anxious at 1.5 laps. I knew another racer, Clayton, was going to be making a move - he's SUPER strong. We apparently thought to move at the same time. We attacked into the cross/headwind. It looked like we had it stuck with a group of 4. Nope. Clayton attacked again, I wasn't recovered enough. He and another riding got away...and they got away FAST!! The lead group was now between 8-12 riders, some couldn't hold the tempo after 40+ miles off the front. After 3 laps the lead was up to 2:30. Hope seemed nearly lost, excluding an all out and well organized chase with strong riders. Through the start/finish things picked up. A LOT. Soon we were strung out and the feed zone became a death zone. It split. I made the cut. We went to WORK. The other group was chasing us and we didn't want to drag the whole peloton. TriSports guy, other TCR SL 2 ISP rider (Anthony?), and I did the bulk of the surge - but the others helped enough to solidify our standing as the lone chasers. Now it came to one thing and one thing alone: everyone work, or all effort be a waste. Luckily only one guy didn't put work in. We had a decent rotation: 3 working hard, 3 putting in "whatever they could" (or secretly conserving). Luckily we did put this massive effort in. We were absolutely flying. We blew past groups dropped from the Pro/1 race, we tore up those who couldn't hold onto the breakaway. Our descents were 53x11 @ 120rpm on a fast rotation. It was clear. Crush it or be crushed. with about 8K to go, we caught the break. It had dwindled to 6 or so riders. I was cramping. Really really badly. Full locking up of my right leg, partial of my left. I sagged off the group, trying to hide my sheer weakness. Our select group would yield 13 racers. Only 4 were ahead of me in GC. HOLY CRAP! This was working out. If I stayed in it I'm 5th GC. It took nearly all I had to cover an attack that was being left unchased. I considered throwing in the towel for fear of causing a legitimate muscular injury and not even starting on Sunday (it was that bad).

I figured that I worked this hard, I had to stick it out. And if I was going to stick it out, I might as well try for a stage placing. I can't believe with my cramps I pulled off 4th place on the day! Upgrade points woohoo! I was aware everyone else was sufferring. Luckily my sprint capacity outweighed my cramps and weakness in the heat. I was now sitting, uncomfortably, in 5th GC. 4 seconds better, I'd be in 3rd...3 seconds worse, I'd be in 8th. It was very, very tight....

Circuit Race: 45mi, 8x5.6mi laps, Prime (time bonus) @ lap 3.

This is what I looked like after the circuit race. FRIED.
Please note the awesomeness of the hair forming to the helmet vents!

My plan was to, yet again, ride smart and see if I could gain more places in GC. Third place was in range, so was 8th. I'd be 'okay' with 5th because I was in rough shape after Saturday.I'd sit in, go for the prime and finish, and hope things stayed together (which was likely given teams and individual GC standings). If I could snag the 1st place on lap 3 I'd be tied in 3rd. If I could get more I'd have 3rd place solid. Headwind, uphill sprint usually would play into my strengths. However, I was toasted. My ability to sustain three hard days in a row was not having any of it...but I really need that in September, so I have time. No worries.

I stuck in the race, it stayed together. Lap three came around, I accelerated for the sprint, but I didn't realllyyy accelerate and wasn'teven well positioned. No chance on the prime. Big bummer: guy 1 second behind me got the prime. I was now into 6th place and didn't have much for legs. With 1.5 laps to go, I saw 227 (the guy who passed me) put his hand up for having a flat tire. As he slid back, I told him it was a bummer and he did a good job getting the prime. Yes, a flat is unfortunate but that's life. Given that the pace had elevated I knew he was toast. I was back into 5th. With half a lap to go, things got fast up the climb. It was totally strung out up the climb (and feed zone). The guy in 4th went for a bottle, hit a pot hole, and went down - fairly hard. By the time I came by he was still stumbling to get back up. To his misfortune, the pace was very hot. He was out the back and my assumption was right that he would miss catching back on. Things were sketchy as normal coming into the last turn - everyone stupidly dive-bombing in on the inside. I stayed patient and didn't do anything stupid, which set me up horribly (read: last 3 wheels into the final kilometer). I moved up, burning whatever crappy low-octane matches were remaining in my book. With about 400m to go, the group formed far on the left side of the road and I went with it as the right side was quite packed. Sadly the train died pretty quick and it was blasting nearly solo into the wind...until that kid cut me off. I pulled the full on stop pedal and hit the brakes...which sucks even more on an uphill with a headwind than anywhere else. I saved it and made 6th place, one place out of an additional upgrade point...but I made 4th place GC!

Here's a nice shot of the climb of the circuit race. Never too tired or shelled to rock out with the awesomest bike in the whole wide world - name Phoenix. Plus it was a pretty view, which I am pretty sure I totally ruined.

Overall, the stage race went better than I was expecting. I know I have pretty low amounts of intensity in my legs and came to Tucson to get into fitness and not to be fully race ready. Initially, no races were on the docket in Tucson until we realized that my fitness was starting out quite well and a little fire tossed at the legs would be good - both for getting into racing mode and seeing where I stand. Well, here it is: I have 9 upgrade points, which is 25% to the elusive Category 1 upgrade! If only there had been 8 more guys registered, I would have 18 points. It's pretty crazy how much field size plays into the value of a race.

Final GC standings:

Nevertheless, I am quite happy with my first real racing in 2013. Sorry I don't have pictures of the races - they haven't been posted online yet.

This will likely be my last (or second to last) post from Tucson. I am heading out from here on the 26th or 27th. Only a few more days of quality left. I'll be sad to leave, but excited to be home...as long as the weather is decent (rawrrr!).