So its spring break this week and there was plenty of riding planned for the week. Today in particular I had planned a big road ride with lots of climbing but thanks to the never ending rain we’ve had all week instead I sit here watching the ACC tournament. I guess it’s a good time for a race report.
So as you know this past weekend was our second race weekend of the ACCC road season at Duke. I hadn’t really put to much importance on this weekend in the grand scheme of things but once the start whistle blows its game on.
Saturday Marshall and I headed up to durham early and got all our stuff set up in plenty of time. Our race started at 9:10 and we were completely set up by 7:45. Great. I don’t like to feel rushed prerace so we sat around talking and watching other teams fly in 15 minutes prior to the start of the race. I got on the trainer and warmed up then headed for the start line at 8:50 twenty minutes prior to the race to secure a good starting spot. No luck. We were still lined up in the next to last row when the race rolled off and it nearly cost me the race again. As the pace lifted I tried to make my way to the front as fast as I could but it was packed thick and tough to move up. Then it happened. I didn’t even know it was happening until it was almost to late. We started up a short but steep hill about two miles into the race and I shifted down to spin up as the pace was fairly manageable at this point. Marshall was following my wheel and we were about ¾ of the way back in the pack. Then I looked up to see the leaders flying over the top of the hill and gaps starting to appear. Not again. I stood up and hammered as hard as I could up over the top of the hill. As I rounded the top of the hill I could see the lead group of about 10 riders 50 or 60 yards up the road and then all around me were about 10 guys who missed the move and I assume the other 17 riders including marshall were still struggling up the hill. I was determined to close the gap and jumped on several wheels and tried to work together to pull back up to the pack. Once we were about twenty yards off the back I jumped off the front and gunned it to pull us all back to the peloton but it just seemed impossible to pull up after I was only 15 feet from the back. Luckily another rider came around me and we finished the chase. Finally about 6 miles in twenty of us settled in and started pushing for the finish. This was my first experience riding in the lead peloton and it’s an indescribable feeling. Flying down the road at 25 26 mph almost effortlessly and a tight group just feels right.
We stayed together with no attacks for the next six or seven miles until we approached the hill I mentioned in last weeks race preview. I was enjoying riding so much I lost track of the milage. I was riding in the center of the pack when we approached the hill. It wasn’t a real serious climb but it was just enough to create separation with the top being only a mile from the finish. As we started up it I wasn’t even thinking about what was going on I stayed on climbing at a hard but comfortable pace till about half way up the hill and then the pack blew up. The leaders really lifted the pace and the peloton strung out up this last climb. I looked down when I got to the top of the hill to see 13 miles on my computer and I knew that was it and I had missed the second move. I found myself beside the VCU rider I had rode with for most of the NCSU race. I could still see the peloton forming back up 30 yars up the road so I jumped on his wheel to recover and make a chase. I followed him for a second and saw the gap widening. I then looked back down the raod and saw several others who had been dropped early on up the hill. I decided it was now or never so I jumped out and mashed the pedals. I looked back after just a second and noticed the VCU rider couldn’t hang on. I kept the pace high as I past the 500m to go sign. I made a glance over my shoulder and saw a rider from GW closing fast. I didn’t think it was much of a threat as far down the road as he was but with less than 100m I glanced over and he was right beside me. I jumped up and sprinted on his wheel but quickly saw he had to much and I rolled in right behind him.
I ended up finishing 19th out of 37. The results aren’t much different from my first race but I felt much better about the effort. Chasing back on and riding with the lead group all the way to the finishing straight. It was probably one of the most enjoyable races iv had. Marshall rode alone most of the day coming in 30th.
Rain was threatening on Sunday as we headed back to Durham for the Crit on Dukes campus. We got there early again and just as we got done warming up and was taking a few warm up laps around the course it started to rain. The course was the best crit course Iv ever rode. It started with a nice little incline to a flat on top then a really fast decent with several turns into a flat in the bottom before heading back up the incline. I really enjoy the curvy descents were I can usually open gaps or close them.
We lined up all in one line across the course so I had a chance at a decent start. When the whistle blew I sprinted up the first climb with Marshall and John from elon right beside me. I found myself in 4th at the bottom of the decent and pushed it to stay with the leaders. As we came across the start finish line the pace really ramped up and I quickly was pushed back to about tenth right behind johns wheel. As the race went on I was really laying into the corners especially on the fast downhill sliding around on the wet asphalt. As the race settled in I was in a group of 4 of the leaders. I ended up pushing the pace and dropping the group I was riding with and hooking up with a WVU rider who would ride for a little while with me and then fall back and then come back and then fall back again. I put my head down for a while until I finally though “wonder how many laps are left.” As I came to the line I looked up to see 2 laps to go and then glanced back to see two guys from duke and NCSU I had left behind earlier teaming up and pulling back up to me. By the end of that lap we were together Me, NCSU, Duke and WVU. I lost contact on the climb with the two riders who had worked up to me and I was determined not to let the WVU rider who had set in on me the whole race beat me. I threw it all on the line as we hit the decent and screamed at some lap traffic I was coming on the outside. I opened a nice gap on him and even closed down the gap on the two in front but ended up coasting in to a 15th out of 25 finish. Marshall was out of the race early and eventually got lapped and dnf’ed.
With the weather it was mainly the fast guys out there on Sunday so for me once again the results don’t reflect how well I felt like I rode. I really enjoyed the course and the crit as a whole much more than I had anticipated.
For a low priority race weekend I really felt I performed well and had a lot of fun…
No comments:
Post a Comment