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04-18-10, 06:52 PM
Surprised--the only word that can really describe what I'm feeling right now. This morning, I thought yesterday's work (thanks volunteers!) and time in the sun took a lot out of me. I felt tired, sluggish, and generally melancholy. I arrived at the course three hours before my scheduled start time, both to pre-ride the course and to try and learn a thing or two from the fast guys. I spoke with Guapo and Ray before the race who told me to be patient on the finishing sprint up the hill. This advice would be my mantra on the last lap. But a lot happened before then, so let's rewind to the beginning.
Whistle. I attack. This was either the dumbest or the smartest thing I did all race. At any rate, I was "that guy" burning a match and taking a pointless solo flyer off the front. Don't do what I did - it was probably a total waste of energy. That, or it put the finishing touch on my warmup which gave me the firepower to win the race. Speculation aside, this was the first time I've taken a solo flyer from the whistle and, incidentally, this was the first race I've ever won. Causation or correlation is a question that I will debate in my mind until the next time I do it.
Laps 2-6 are pretty uneventful. Sit in, cruise up to the front, hit brakes when people get freaked out about cornering at speed. Around lap 7 or so a break gets up the road and they're holding a pretty solid 15-20" gap. At one point, I'm at the front and everyone just kinda stops pedaling. So I start pedaling. Really hard. Some might say I was bridging. I make it maybe 2/3 of the way to the break, solo, when I turn around and see the field strung out 20 meters off my wheel. Ok, clearly this isn't gonna work. Sit up, go back into the pack, and recover.
Lap 10 and the break is still out there, though the gap is down to <5" now. On the backside of the course, the break gets reeled in. We take the hard right turn and I'm fifteen spots back. Too far back. Burn a match to make up about 10 spots on the fast, tailwind section that curves into the bottom of the hill. At the bottom of the hill I'm 3rd or 4th wheel. As Guapo and Ray predicted, riders start pushing the pace.
500 meters to go and I'm sitting second wheel.
400 meters to go, Coppi launches his attack to my left. I immediately jump on his wheel (Guapo told me "Find a good wheel that you know will fade and ride it as close as you can to the finish").
300 meters to go and the free ride is going well. I get out of the saddle and get ready to open up my sprint.
200 meters to go and Coppi's body language says "Mercy, mercy, mercy." Look left. Look right. Pull right and jump hard. See ya later, Coppi.
150 meters to go and it's nothing but open road and Turtle's screaming ahead of me. I give 100%. Every pedal stroke is the hardest pedal stroke I can muster. I start thinking "Holy crap I could win this."
100 meters to go and I hear a rider over my left shoulder. Crap. Focus on the finish line. Keep pedaling. My cadence is slowing, should I shift down a gear? No, shifting might be a mistake. I think I'm sprinting uphill in a 53x13.
50 meters to go. The rider is getting closer. I go from thinking "Holy crap I could win this" to "**** Brian you better not lose this".
All I see is red. My little piece of red tape laid atop asphalt. Throw the bike. Glance left. I can't tell who won.
Turns out I did.
Whistle. I attack. This was either the dumbest or the smartest thing I did all race. At any rate, I was "that guy" burning a match and taking a pointless solo flyer off the front. Don't do what I did - it was probably a total waste of energy. That, or it put the finishing touch on my warmup which gave me the firepower to win the race. Speculation aside, this was the first time I've taken a solo flyer from the whistle and, incidentally, this was the first race I've ever won. Causation or correlation is a question that I will debate in my mind until the next time I do it.
Laps 2-6 are pretty uneventful. Sit in, cruise up to the front, hit brakes when people get freaked out about cornering at speed. Around lap 7 or so a break gets up the road and they're holding a pretty solid 15-20" gap. At one point, I'm at the front and everyone just kinda stops pedaling. So I start pedaling. Really hard. Some might say I was bridging. I make it maybe 2/3 of the way to the break, solo, when I turn around and see the field strung out 20 meters off my wheel. Ok, clearly this isn't gonna work. Sit up, go back into the pack, and recover.
Lap 10 and the break is still out there, though the gap is down to <5" now. On the backside of the course, the break gets reeled in. We take the hard right turn and I'm fifteen spots back. Too far back. Burn a match to make up about 10 spots on the fast, tailwind section that curves into the bottom of the hill. At the bottom of the hill I'm 3rd or 4th wheel. As Guapo and Ray predicted, riders start pushing the pace.
500 meters to go and I'm sitting second wheel.
400 meters to go, Coppi launches his attack to my left. I immediately jump on his wheel (Guapo told me "Find a good wheel that you know will fade and ride it as close as you can to the finish").
300 meters to go and the free ride is going well. I get out of the saddle and get ready to open up my sprint.
200 meters to go and Coppi's body language says "Mercy, mercy, mercy." Look left. Look right. Pull right and jump hard. See ya later, Coppi.
150 meters to go and it's nothing but open road and Turtle's screaming ahead of me. I give 100%. Every pedal stroke is the hardest pedal stroke I can muster. I start thinking "Holy crap I could win this."
100 meters to go and I hear a rider over my left shoulder. Crap. Focus on the finish line. Keep pedaling. My cadence is slowing, should I shift down a gear? No, shifting might be a mistake. I think I'm sprinting uphill in a 53x13.
50 meters to go. The rider is getting closer. I go from thinking "Holy crap I could win this" to "**** Brian you better not lose this".
All I see is red. My little piece of red tape laid atop asphalt. Throw the bike. Glance left. I can't tell who won.
Turns out I did.