This was the last race of the 2009 season. I believe it was my 19th race of the year and my first road race. I have done more crits than any other discipline in cycling this year and had somehow missed all of the regular road races. Deciding long ago to not race on Sundays, I didn't see the the value in doing any of the local multi-day race and then dropping out on the last day. Perhaps because I was worried I wouldn't want to be tempted to sacrifice any winnings, I stayed away. After a full season as a CAT 5, there is clearly no danger of losing any of my winnings. :)I did this race alone. Starnes, Prince, Smith, and Larson all opted out of this race. Until Saturday AM, Jared's wife was still working on him to come race but it was not to be. I drove out to Glen's Ferry by myself at 8:30 in the morning. I even put the job of picking up my parents on Ali. Sweet girl.
Our parking and start area was so covered with goat heads that no one could use a trainer or even roll there bike around. Everyone carried there rides to the road and start line to avoid the sting of these nasty tire popping seeds.
I only got about 10 minutes to warm up. Jackson and I got to ride to the top of the first climb and then back to the bridge just before the finish line before we had to return to start. He had driven the course before, something I wanted to do, but arrived so late, it was not possible. He mentioned there were two pretty serious climbs even though it had been billed as rollers. These climbs had 12% sections in them for a hundred feet or so.
The old guys shot off first. In this handicap format, groups were released based on the inverse of expected finish order with CAT 1-2 guys last. The only issue, the releases were only 4 minutes apart. Four minutes over 50 miles. There was no doubt that the catch was imminent.
The older guys rolled out first, CAT4-5 and Masters B, CAT 3 and Masters A (Women 1-2-3 also), and then the 1-2 guys. We started with 11 in our group. After the first climb, just a mile in, we lost one. He made a noise like "uh-oh" and was off the back. I did what I usually do, which is to start talking and convince the group to work together, as we were going to be at it for another 3 hours.
The pace line was firm with only one rider (Lost River) over doing his pace on the front. Several of us talked him down a bit and we fell into a nice 21+ pace. 8 miles in we hit our second hill. While the pace was even, the group split a little. A Boise State rider who had be very good to me in a previous race fell off the back. I made a decision at that point that would effect the rest of my day. I told the other BSU riders I would fall back and support him for a bit.
With no aspirations in this race (or any this year) of winning, certainly not with the CAT 1-2 guys only 8 minutes behind, I decided to play a roll and ride with a good guy. We were in sight of the main group for the next 4 miles. Another rider, Matt, got the first flat of the day thanks to a goat head. Dylan and I actually stopped and helped him change it and made it a trio.
In the second lap, we picked up the only woman in the race, a strong rider named Heather. She and her husband Uhl are the strongest cycling couple around. The 4 of us worked together for the next 20 miles.
Unfortunately, Dylan started to fade and I decided to have them push on and I dropped back to help him again. In the 3rd lap, we picked up Sam, the only youth rider in the race, and talked him out of abandoning. I should say, at this point the ride was becoming very uncomfortable. Despite the mild start, it was getting hot, the hills were taking there toll, and even though I had been hydrating like no other, I was starting to cramp a little. So were the other guys. At this point in the race, we discovered later, 1/3 of the racers had already abandoned including Sam's father Alfredo (one of my absolute favorite guys).
We stuck it out together the rest of the way. Four miles from the end, my legs seised up and I needed to hop of the bike for a minute. I sent Dylan and Sam on ahead. They needed the momentum to finish. Alfredo was great in his "team car" and even helped me fix a flat and encouraged me as I chased back on.
In the end, I finished just ahead of the SAG in 16th place. Had I finished with Dylan and Sam I likely would have taken a prize home. But, that's not why I raced.
Despite the flat, the heat, the wind, the hills, and the dehydration, I had a blast. I would do it all again...but with more electrolytes.
