RACE REPORT #18 Salida Road Race - Colorado State Championships CAT 4/35+

Bronze medal, baby!

Wow, what a race. Guys were saying afterwards that it was the hardest they’d ever done. Judging by the difficulty I’m having just walking now, I’d have to agree…

Tim and I busted out of work a little early and after making a couple of stops, headed down Highway 285 to Salida (~ 150 mi.). We had the tunes going and the car loaded with 3 bikes and several sets of wheels. That’s my kind of road trip! The drive went well and we arrived in time for a team dinner at an Italian restaurant. The race course was a pretty hot topic around the table. Since the bulk of it was on private property (new housing development), most of us hadn’t seen it at all and were having to go off some pretty vague descriptions from the race promoter:

Road race is on closed roads except for 3 miles on state highway. 1300′ climbing per lap. Winding course with super fast downhills.

The course will be a 12 mile loop through the Weldon Creek subdivision connecting via CR 140/250 and a 3 mile section on hwy 50. Each lap has 1200’ of vertical gain and features many tight turns and some very fast descents. There will be numerous categories racing at the same time so use caution on the downhill. Slower packs and individuals should keep to right to be passed.

We eagerly devoured the tidbits of info given to us by a couple of teammates that had arrived in town early enough to actually get a ride in on the course. The main thing we heard was ’steep climb!!’. So steep that Bob was saying a 27 tooth cog on the back wouldn’t be out of the question. What?!?! That’s what I used in the hillclimb race earlier this month. No way I was expecting anything that steep in this event. I was more than a little nervous, because my race wheels only had a 23. Then I remembered - I think my spare wheels had my 25 mounted. Yes! That was ohh sooo lucky - I could have been in big trouble trying to muscle that 23 multiple times up the climb. Anyway, we had all kinds of real and speculated info filling our heads for the night. I really hate flying blind like that…

The rest of the evening was spent getting our registration packets, checking in to the Super 8 motel - and cleaning chains, swapping cogs, and dealing with other maintenance issues. Then it was off to bed. Thankfully, we had a late starting time - so no crack of dawn duty for us.

Breakfast was in the motel lobby and consisted of french toast, bagels, milk, and oj. I loaded up for the day… It was really strange to have so much time on hand before a race. Normally it’s a mad dash to get everything ready and make it to the start line. Today, we went back to the room after breakfast and laid down with our feet up and relaxed for a while. I took the bike out for a quick spin to make sure all of my changes and modifications were working as desired. I had dropped my chain a couple of times on my last ride and wanted to make sure I had the front shifting adjusted correctly. I knew we would be slamming gears big-time in this race with all of the transitions from climbing to descending to climbing again. The last thing I wanted was to miss a shift and/or drop my chain.

We drove over to the starting area and dropped off our spare wheels to be loaded in the follow-vehicle, then parked back at the hotel and rode the bikes back to the start. We got there about an hour before we were supposed to roll out, then heard that there was a delay. Someone said it was a funeral procession of all things. Anyway, that set our start time back by an hour. So we basically laid around in the grass and BS’d for an hour and a half. The time finally came for our neutral roll-out (7 miles) to the real starting line where we would be staged and sent off in groups according to our respective categories. As luck would have it (not), my group was last to go, which meant that we got to stand on the open road in the baking sun for almost 30 minutes waiting for our 1:00 start time. I looked down by my feet and could see tar bubbling up between the pebbles in the asphalt. My cleats we hard to clip into my pedals because of all the crap that was stuck to them. FINALLY, we got the whistle and set off on our adventure. It felt so good to get going after waiting around and having the stress and anticipation build all day long.

Due to a last-minute nature break, I was at the tail end of the group. That was fine with me, I knew we’d have about 4 miles of very gentle climbing up Highway 50 into a headwind before the real action began. I was very surprised to look at my computer and see that we were doing 20+ mph on this section. I thought it would be a fairly laid back start, but I was actually working a bit to stay with the group. Whoever was driving the train was putting in a pretty good effort, I’m sure they felt that later in the race… When the course turned off the highway, I was prepared to make my move. I knew we’d be making a sharp right followed by a sharp left, so took my chance in those corners to squirt up the line and gain positions. When the real climbing began, I was in about 20th place (our group was around 60 riders) and ready to rock. A guy from Team Evergreen started pushing the pace and riders were immediately shelled out the back. The pace stayed high, and I fought my way around people that were faltering to get my shot at the front. I worked my way up there and glanced back to see a long line of suffering riders behind - as we crested the first major climb (which was only a kilometer long, but very steep), I was 3rd wheel in a group of 12 or so that had made a clean break from the rest. I was taking big-time mental notes of every rise and dip knowing we’d be seeing it all 3 more times. We made a quick descent, hit a fast corner and charged straight up another hill. It wasn’t very long, but it hurt. Then a little more flat/down followed by a gradual climb through the finish line and feed zone.

The pace was killing me at this point. As Phil Liggett (british cycling commentator) would say, I was digging deep into my suitcase of courage! I was hoping the T.E. guy up front would ease up just a little, but it didn’t happen. I was suffering really bad to stay on, but knew that it was now or never. To slip at this point would kill any chances I had for a win. A few more sharp climbs and drops, then it was a wide-open, ~60mph, full tuck drop for over a mile that ended as we flew through the gate of the development and got spit back onto the county road that would lead us back to the highway for another lap. The road through the development was closed to cars so we got to take the descents just like the guys at the Tour on TV - sweeping wide through the corners and using the whole road. That was FUN!

Our group consolidated itself to 10 riders and we started rotating through a paceline to keep our speed up and prevent anyone from catching back up to us. I wasn’t really concerned about that, figuring that anyone managing to come back would just get popped off the next time we hit the climb. Other’s didn’t see it like that and were getting anxious that we needed to be working it. Whatever… I did have a teammate (Brad) with me in this group which was very, very cool. In all the races we’ve done, it has never worked out for us to be in the front group together. We had just been talking the night before about how great it would be for us to both have a good day and be able to ride at the front together. Based on how badly my legs had been feeling in the past 10 days, I was less than optimistic about my being there. I was really happy to have made the split and to be able to race together like that.

Sometime while we were climbing on the 2nd lap, two guys sort of rolled off the front and hung out just 20 seconds or so ahead of our group. The pace was a little more manageable, and I actually felt a bit better this time around. I grabbed a fresh bottle in the feedzone and tried to drink as much as I could. I heard later that Tim took a bottle and dumped it all over his face, head, and neck in an attempt to cool off - only to discover too late that it was a sports drink!! He was covered in a sticky mess all while baking in the 99 degree heat! Not good…! We had a pretty good laugh about it afterwards, though. He also told us about falling over on the last climb as he got his chain crossed up and couldn’t pedal anymore - just in time for our teammate Bob to ride by, look down, and say, “Dude, that’s not pro…”.

On the flat(ter) section of this lap, Brad did a great job controlling our group and keeping us from chasing down the leaders too quickly. We wanted them to hang out there and bake, so we kept them within sight and held the gap steady. That worked for a while, but somewhere on the third climb they disappeared. The pace in our group heated up quite a bit as we got more serious about chasing and before I knew it there were only 4 of us left, with the two leaders out of our sight up the road. Then something strange happened. We shut off the gas and started to chat! I look back on this episode shaking my head… We should have been working our butts off to catch the leaders, and here we were swapping names, telling our ages, talking about the weather. The topic of the BAT (Best All-around Team) competition came up as one guy asked Brad if J.R. Engineering (2nd place overall) was close to our team in the points standings. They were, Brad answered, and with a huge smile and a nod towards me said; “but it’s looking gooood this weekend…”. Knowing that their guys had missed the key break and having two of us in it meant that we were going to bag some major points! Very satisfying for us - their team is not as large as ours, but they are very good riders and always seem to score. It was great for us to finally ride away from them in the most important race of the year.

The whole chit-chat episode was dumb of us and a waste of valuable time that could have made a difference at the finish. I think we must’ve gotten a little bit cocky. Knowing that on a course like this, anyone that had been dropped wouldn’t be catching us again - so I think we took a little breather and relaxed before we got down to the business of the last lap.

I was starting to feel pretty excited at this point. I mean REVVED UP! As we hit that super-fast descent for the last time, I was really happy to be in the position I was in - and confident that I could outsprint any of the 3 guys that were with me. I took a long look behind, and saw nothing but open road. This was it! We still had the two guys ahead of us, but in my mind I was riding in to at least 3rd place. I thought the leaders would probably stay away, and that our group of 4 would sprint it out for the remaining podium spot. I was right about my placing, but couldn’t have been more wrong on how I got there.

As we made the final turn onto Highway 50 for the last few miles of gentle climbing before getting to the more serious stuff, I stood to accellerate and my legs started cramping up like nobody’s business. I immediately had to sit down and go into damage-control mode. Brad was fired up to start a serious chasedown of the leaders, but I just could not contribute. I skipped a couple of turns at the front, then soft-pedaled through some more. Wow, I was in BIG trouble. I had been struggling with leg cramps off and on for the past couple of weeks, and I feared this would be my biggest limitation in this race - my fears were turning out to be reality.

I settled down as best I could and tried not to panic as every single muscle fiber in my legs contracted at different intervals and intensities. I’ve never felt anything like that before - they were shot! By this time, Brad had put in a steady pull and opened a sizeable gap on the 3 of us. I didn’t want to help the guys with me chase him down, but we had a lot of work invested in our race so far and I didn’t want to let that go to waste, either. I rotated through our small paceline a few times, just maintaining the speed - nothing more. My legs were still pretty crippled, but I got the sense that my companions were both wasted. I felt good except for my leg issues, so I tried to baby them as much as possible - then when the time was right, I made my move and started after Brad.

I could see him off in the distance, but he looked pretty solid and I doubted if I could gain on him in my current condition. Then, just as I was about to make the turn off of the highway into the subdivision and up the climb for the last time, I caught and passed one of the two guys that had been off the front! That gave me a huge boost, because I knew I was now 3rd on the road. I went as hard as I could on the steep climb and inched my way towards Brad. My legs were complaining - A LOT! I was on a razor-thin edge between catching Brad, and cramping up so bad that I would fall over in the road. The thought came to my mind that I might never walk again - but I was going to keep pedaling, dammit!

Finally, I caught him. Boy, was he surprised to see me, especially since I had made it alone and didn’t bring anyone else along. We worked together for a while, and I actually think I was hurting him a little when I was pulling because he would ask to stay in back for just a while longer to recover. As we approached the finish, things started to get interesting. You never know how these things are going to play out when it’s teammate vs. teammate. The winner was over a minute up the road so it would be just the two of us fighting for the remaining spots on the podium. I figured we would just drag race it to the finish and leave it at that. Brad had other ideas. He’s a really good climber (weighs around 135lbs.), but when it comes to a sprint I have the edge. Feeling worried about that, he started telling me that since it was probably his last race in our category before he got upgraded, it would really mean a lot to him to get the silver medal at the State Championships. Implying that it would be really nice if I were to sit up and let him go. After an awkward silence while I considered the proposition and reflected on the hours of training and pain I had gone through to get to this point, I replied. “Dude, we’re sprinting.” Click, click went the shifters and away we went.

Unfortunately for me, as soon as I stood up to start my sprint, the muscles in my legs all contracted HARD at once in a final act of defiance and I screamed in pain as I had to sit back down and soft-pedal my way across the line. Brad put 15 seconds into me in the last 200 meters. He was happy, and I was really happy for him - and myself. What a race! Much back slapping and story telling ensued. It was awesome to have been in the action together like that. So many times in racing you find yourself off the back just struggling to finish. It’s really nice to be up front once in a while!

That is BY FAR the worst I have felt in any of the nearly 20 races I’ve done so far this year. To pull out a bronze medal in the most hotly contested, hardest course, race on our calendar under those circumstances really made me proud. I did spend a little while in the “what if” zone afterwards, thinking that if my legs would have been closer to normal I had a great chance to win. I snapped out of that pretty quick, though and enjoyed the moment as much as possible. We got medals, pictures on the poduim (no kisses from girls, though), and a little cash. I split mine with my kids, they were happy about that! Probably set some unrealistic expectations. I can just picture it now, every time I get home from a race now they’ll be waiting for the payout…

SEVEN

Well, Lance is partying in Paris for the 7th time in 7 years. Wow. I remember watching Indurain win 5 Tours in a row during the early 90’s and thinking how that would be a once in a lifetime occurrence. Guess not.

We’ve really enjoyed watching the race together this year. Liz and I had to leave the 3 older kids at home to get themselves off to school one day. When we called to check on them and asked what they were doing, they said watching the Tour de France! Not Teletubbies, Arthur, or any other cartoons. 3 little kids home alone watching bike racing - too funny! Lindsey’s favorite rider was Michael Rasmussen, who wore the polka dot jersey for being king of the mountains. His nickname is ‘chicken’ because he’s so scrawny - she got a real kick out of that.

Pretty cool to see how well all of the other Americans did, too.

Kryptonite Delight

Noooooooo. That is what I was thinking as I started my climb up Deer Creek canyon today. It was supposed to be my final hard training ride before starting to rest and taper down to State Championship race next weekend in Salida. After feeling totally invincible for the whole month, my legs totally SUCKED today. No power left - zip, zero, zilch, nada. I crawled up the road before turning around. I was afraid this day would come sooner or later. Question is, just a one-off, or something more persistent?? Time will tell.

I also have a huge knot, about the size of a golfball, in my right calf. I’ve worked on it for hours, but it shows no signs of letting up. Man, talk about a bummer. My confidence was at an all time high, and I was eagerly anticipating a great result in the race. No more.

I don’t know if I overdid it, or what. I did a hard effort up High Grade a couple of days ago, and started to get a cramp in my leg after the ride - right where the knot is now. I didn’t think a thing about it at the time, I’ve had similar things happen before - but without lasting after-effects. Yesterday, while riding at Cherry Creek, I took a pull with 3 others following me and held 28-29mph for a two mile stretch. I was going good and was even able to win the sprint from a guy that had been sitting in the draft.

I don’t know what to do now. Should I ride? Rest? I’ll probably do a combination of both, along with plenty of massage work on the knot. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking down to Salida…

One piece of good news is that I’ve been sticking to my diet plan pretty darn good. I was up to 162 after my June binge, and am back to 157 and dropping. That 5 pounds has made a big difference.

good legs continue…

It’s been almost unbelievable how good I’ve been feeling this month. I can do no wrong on the bike. Since feeling good at the race several days ago, the legs have just been getting better and better. I’ve had several teammates comment on the improvement in my climbing speed - I’m just telling them that it feels as though my legs have finally caught up with all of the training I’ve been doing for the past several months. For most of the year, I’ve been a case of more lung than legs. Now the legs are catching up, watch out!!

I even broke my record on High Grade tonight. 53:46 is my new best time. That’s a good 10 minutes faster than my very best ride (out of multiple attempts) last year. Nice!

Goodbye XL

Did some closet cleaning today. Jettisoned 3 HUGE bags of clothes. These were the lawn and leaf size jobs… I had gotten very good at picking up nice shirts on sale/clearance over the past several years and had built up quite a collection. Problem is, they’re all extra large - and I’m wearing mediums now. They’re like circus tents on me - time to go. Kinda sad, but happy at the same time. Oh, well - dangers of the occupation…

P.S. - hit the Goodwill store in Littleton if you’re looking to score some good deals on lightly used, well cared-for, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren button down XL shirts.

RACE REPORT #17 Mike Horgan Memorial Hillclimb CAT 4/35+

It was with a LOT of trepidation that I entered today’s race. First, it was a hillclimb. Historically not my best event (but getting better). Second, it was a really, really, really, tough hillclimb. 22 miles, 4400 feet of elevation gain, short pitches of 17% grade, a 4 mile stretch at 10-12%, and to top it off - 7 miles of rolling dirt road with some washboard sections thrown in for fun.

The course has been the subject of much discussion among the members of our team for almost 2 weeks. Here’s an example of some of the chatter that’s been flying around our email list:

I have never done a harder climbing course. My “easy” test ride was very hard.

It is demoralizingly steep in sections and then it just keeps going. It is unlike any road climb that I have ever done, with some pitches that rival mountain bike terrain for steepness.

4.6 Left turn to Magnolia Rd: NOTE: it is important that you take the INSIDE on this turn. You will have the best line up the first switchback. If you are on the outside of the first turn you will likely be in the inside of the 1st switchback which is so steep, it would be almost IMPOSSIBLE to negotiate on a bike. Also the inside of that switchback is SUPER smooth from tire wear and my tacky race tires (on the right rear of my car) spun out!

Actually, it was the steepest sustained climb I think I’ve ever done. I used a 13-29 and did not find myself spinning out of the 29 on the steepest pitches.

I sent out the pre-ride announcement earlier, and, for those planning to race it, it would be a REALLY good idea to make the pre-ride. This is probably the HARDEST climb on the front range, if not the whole state…

Wow! Now you can see why I was shaking in my cleats. Especially never having ridden/driven/seen the course at all. I also knew that events like this are a magnet for the rocket-up-the-hills MTB dudes that keep a road bike laying around and other climbing hermits that come down out of the peaks to force feed a sack full of humble pie to the regular-joe road racers like myself. This is THEIR time to shine. All this can be yours, I’m thinking, for the low, low price of only 30 dollars. What a bargain!

To top it off, I had been feeling less than optimal in the legs over the past two weeks after my 100+ miler with Phil in Utah. The trouble wasn’t doing that big of a ride, it was doing it and then nothing else for the next 4 days. That let all the little tears and tweaks in the muscles start to heal up and made for some tight and very dead-feeling legs. I just did not have any snap left in them. In the week leading up to the race I had alternated some very hard riding days, with some super easy spins on the rollers to loosen up the muscles. I also worked at massaging my legs (too poor to pay someone else…) for up to 90 minutes a night. That is a huge help in getting them back on track.

With all that said, the day of the race found me feeling more relaxed than I had been at any of my races so far this year. The pressure was off. No chance for a win, top twenty was all I dared hope for - but even that seemed questionable. I basically resigned myself to considering it a $30 training ride and would just see how things went. I did my best to prepare with the resources I had available. Thanks to some efforts of a few teammates, I was able to construct a course profile with key mileages to keep in my pocket. That helped a ton (but still didn’t make up for not knowing the course). I kept my warmup pretty low key and didn’t even do any hard efforts on the trainer, just a half-hour of moderate spinning. I knew that we’d have 4-5 miles of gradual climbing before we hit the steep stuff and didn’t want to waste any energy before the start.

The first bit was ok. Our group of around 60 started up Boulder Canyon at steady clip. I was surprised to see the same 2-3 guys sitting on the front pulling the group for most of the approach. I was thinking that was kind of dumb, but made sure to do my best to take advantage of their effort! I kept myself very well positioned sitting in the sweet spot of between 10-15th place in line and trying to stay as sheltered as possible. We went through a cool tunnel a couple of miles up the canyon and I commented on how ‘euro’ we were to a teammate. From then on, my eyes were glued to my computer - counting the tenth’s of a mile to reach 4.6 where the real race would begin.

At mile 4.5 I took the last tug on my water bottle that I’d be able to for a while, and prepared myself for the carnage that was sure to ensue on the first switchback. When we made the turn off of the main canyon road, my legs sprung to life as I stood and cranked my way up and around the steeeeep corner. One guy was putting so much pressure on his saddle while he was grinding up the hill that it snapped clean off the rails - that’s one way to get out of having to do the climb… I had to pay attention to my weight distribution as if I was mountian biking, my front wheel was lifting off the road at times.

Much to my absolute amazement, my legs felt really good! Despite the fact that my heart rate was over 180 for the first half-mile of the climb (which would normally mean that I’m about to blow because my max is 187), I wasn’t even breathing that hard and didn’t feel the exertion like I normally would have. Man, what I wouldn’t give to feel like that all the time! A few guys immediately pulled away, but I elected to just keep my own pace - because there were so many unknowns for me regarding the course. Plus, I didn’t want the magic bubble I was riding in to burst!! Here I am, racing up some vertical road on my bicycle, guys weaving all around me and breathing so hard it sounds like they’re going to explode - and I’m actually having fun?!?! I went into it with the training ride mentality, and it felt like a training ride - only I knew I was going well because I left all my teammates behind very early in the climb, and I caught and passed two others at mile 7 that had started in a group a couple of minutes before mine.

George Hincapie (Armstrong’s teammate) calls a day like this on the bike “no chain”. I was feeling no chain. Accellerations came easily, I wasn’t breathing hard, and my legs felt like they had endless power to tap into. Wow.

I knew I should kick it up a notch and try to make up time on the guys that pulled away earlier, but I was enjoying the moment and just doing my thing. Any other course and I would have been flying off the front with the same voracity as the rabbit in Monty Python’s Holy Grail.

The dirt road section was a hoot! The road was in pretty good shape for the most part, but there were some exciting moments to be had taking corners downhill at 30+ mph on skinny tires. Yee-Haw! I saw one guy flip himself upside down when he was yanking on the bars while climbing a short hill - ouch!

The dirt ended very suddenly, catching me a bit off gaurd as we hit the pavement for a fast and twisty descent to the base of the final climb. As luck would have it, straight into a block headwind. Fortunately, I was with three other guys at this point and we were able to take turns plowing through the air. After a mile or two of false-flat, we made a left and started the ascent to the finish line which was another two miles or so up the mountain. I was still feeling ok when one guy put in a solo attack. It was still a ways to go to the finish, and I had dropped this guy earlier in the day, so I let him go - thinking he would either blow up, or that I could reel him back in. Turns out he didn’t blow, and he managed to open up quite a gap. I upped the pace enough to drop the other riders with me, but kept it below full-on chase mode. Still waiting to see what would happen up ahead. He must’ve made an amazing recovery from getting dropped earlier, because he showed no signs of slowing at all. Once we hit the final kilometer I started chasing HARD! I was closing fast, but he turned and looked back with just a couple of meters to go and began his own sprint when he saw me coming. I pulled even, then inched ahead, but just couldn’t hold it after chasing so hard and he managed to nip me at the line for 10th. Bugger!

However, 11th place was FAR better than I had hoped for. After being the top finisher for our team again, I’m starting to get a small reputation as a climber. That seems so funny to me - when I think back to my chunky white, hairy legs and 220lb. body of a little over a year ago. Now they’re lean and tan, and people are calling me a ‘climber’ - ha… Feels good!

Happy 4th!

Good day today. I got up at 5:30 to meet some guys for a mountain bike ride. It was only my second time on the MTB this year. It was a great ride, lots of sweet singletrack - all right in our back yard. We had a great time jumping, crashing, getting lost, running out of water, and calling wives at 11:30 to explain why the estimated return time of 9:00 hadn’t quite worked out…

We went on a massive school shopping trip to get the kids ready for the start of the new year (tomorrow!). This year-round stuff takes some getting used to. Malcolm will be in 6th grade, Lindsey in 3rd, and Natalie in 2nd. I can’t believe how fast they’re growing up!

We had a great dinner of hot dogs and fresh corn on the cob. Jessica LOVED it! After dinner, it was time for our little fireworks display. Everyone had a great time throwing snaps and popping streamers.

I just polished off 3 helpings of stawberry shortcake to finish off the night…

on the wagon, off the wagon, on the wagon again

After over a year of being pretty diligent with my eating habits, the wheels came completely off the bus. It all started with my trip to Chicago in May. Burgers, fries, ice cream, repeat… Then at home I would sometimes have 2 bowls of ice cream in a night, once I had a third! Fast forward to Utah at the end of June and I was eating everything in sight. More ice cream, candy bars, and fudge-dipped granola bars by the handful. Ohhh, and the chips! and cooookies! Wow, I was seriously making up for lost time.

Ended up putting on 7 pounds as a result.

Someone’s gotta put the brakes on this runaway sugar train. So, as of yesterday (7/1), I’m back on the wagon, baby. No more chips, fries, or stuff that I have to eat out of box or package. Carrots, here I come.

Monthly Stats - June

Miles - 673
Hours - 41:45

YTD:
Miles - 2957
Hours - 210:14