They are called reality shows todays but back then, they were just dumb asses... doing dumb ass things, like jumping off a garage on a pogo stick with a metal pie plate attached to their head with duct tape... and somehow thinking it's going to work out well. From the couch we saw the ugly results coming a mile away... a splat, a surprised look on dumb asses face, a tacoed pie plate (while still duct taped to said head) and then.... lots of crying.
... and after the video tape came this warning!
Warning: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!
In a nut shell, that about summed up yesterdays races.
From the spectators point of view, they may have looked pretty reasonable and maybe even easy... with the leaders walking away with many of the races.
But let me tell you, from the racers point of view... it was a war zone out there.
I kid you not!
Now... don't misunderstand me... a war zone isn't all bad. It does have some redeeming qualities.
Like the adrenaline rush of the near death experience as you are rocketing down a icy, rutted path that you know will serve as a cheese grater... when, not if but when, your wheel decides to turn sideways and tosses you over the handlebars like a rag doll at about 40 mph.
Your heightened sensory receptor (whatevers) have kicked in... because you don't want to die and the species survival thing is taking over... That's kinda cool. Because you realize you are in way over your head and you aren't sure how the hell you're going to get out of this mess... so you just keep pedaling and hope like hell things sort themselves out and you just don't break something you'll regret later. That part isn't so cool.
The hammering of your heart rate at 40% above lactic threshold is thrilling... because you've never experience this before and you wonder how long this will last before you head explodes... So this is what the true adrenaline rush is all about!!!?
It got colder than we expected the night before and by the time we arrived on course it was only 16 degrees... everything was a block of ice and where there was standing water on the course the day before... was now black ice.
Michele and I took 2 laps around the course and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how not to kill ourselves on the course. It wasn't a matter of not crashing... there was going to be plenty of that. The trick was making sure you didn't hurt yourself or damage your equipment. On a flat course, that's a little easier than a course with huge elevation changes, like this one.
Answer to question #1... we were running the hill for the first few races! It was a sheet of ice and only 1 out of 15 riders were successfully riding the hill. The odds didn't pay off to try to ride it only to slip out and crash.
Tom D. and I were first up in the batters boxes as far as racers were concerned. He took off to race, I headed out to warm up.
Tom had a great race, and finished 11th! What an awesome day for Tom!!
The strategy for my race was pretty simple. Take the lead before the big climb... get to the top and then punch it on the false flat. Take calculated risked whenever possible and whenever the elevation goes up... so does my effort, not to mention freaking HR.
The plan worked beautifully... what spectators didn't see were the 3 huge crashes I took on the back side of the course that cost me huge time and in the last lap, could have cost me the race.
Here's what happened...
My lead was yo yooing around the 30 second range and at one point crept up to close to a minute but on a course this sketchy... a lead of that size is of little comfort, particulary when you have someone who is steadily grinding behind you and not showing signs of giving up. The riding on my ass had just age graded up into my field, I had not raced against her in the past... and she wanted to hang my hide on her wall
In taking the bell lap, I hit the long run at full tilt, punched it hard on the false flat and then railed the decent before the stair run up... remounted on the top of the rutted decent and that's when it happened...
I was about half way down the hill... just hit full speed when my front wheel caught a rut and launched me over the bars and my bike cart wheeled into the tape! A spectator who initially was cheering my descending skills, was now owwing an awwing my aerial acrobatic .
After scrambling to my feet, I had to then untangle my bike from the tape (to make it a bit more challenging, it was wrapped around both my seat post and handle bars)... While I'm trying to figure out this little puzzle, a silent prayer is running through my head, hoping I hadn't wrecked a wheel or bent the derailleur... I was on the far side of the course... about a mile from the pit... my 30 second lead was now down to about 15 seconds and I'm trying to tell myself not to completely freak out... because I have half a lap between me and a National title and at the moment, my head is the only thing that can control if I win or lose it!
I managed to get the bike untangled... got myself settled down and focused on clean lines. You didn't need to win by a lot... you just need to cross the line first.
It may have looked like a easy race from the side lines. It may have looked like a done deal from the start... It may have even appeared like a walk away from the first lap. But it felt like anything BUT... from "this" riders point of view.
The course should have had a warning sticker on it!
Michele (my new Teammate) had a simply spectacular race!
Check this out! She decides at the proverbial last minute (a week ago)... to race Nationals. Then she signs up for what is without a doubt the hardest women's Master field out there... and races is the absolute toughest conditions on a miserably hard course... and guess what she does????
SHE COMES IN 6TH!!!! 1 spot out of podium... and the only reason she wasn't on the podium is because she slid out in a particularly treacherous corner, approaching the pavement heading to the finish line.
She's clearly disappointed for missing out on a podium finish... and I'm disappointed for her as well... but with that said...
Michele had a really, really... not sun shine being blown up the butt... knock em dead race!!! And she was racing against women who have been focused on this race all freaking year. This was their #1 goal. Most of them would have been thrilled for a top 10 finish... and Michele just rolled to the line an thrashed them, walking home with 6th place in her pocket.
If that's what we get for a last minute decision... I wanna see what happens when she really plans on Nationals, next year :)!
By 2:00 PM rather than course conditions improving, they actually got worse. The course was melting and a thin layer of water was now sitting on the ice making corners impossible for traction.
Paul Curley... who is arguably one of the best bike handlers around, was covered in mud from hitting the deck so many times... before the end of the first lap.
Paul was the defending National Champion and I could see that he wasn't going to go down without a fight. That's exactly how I would have done it. The more you crash, the bigger the riskes you have to take to try to get back to the front... but then you run bigger risks of crashes... but as a Champion... it's the all or nothing mentality. You either race to win... or go down in flames. Sadly... Paul didn't win yesterday, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
I will say this about Paul... given the opportunity to follow and study a line from anyone. Paul is the guy I want to continue to learn from. He is the absolute master at picking, analyzing and riding lines. I have learned so much from him. He has a ton of jersey's to prove it... not getting it this year doesn't take any of that away from him. He's still a CHAMP in a very big way.
Tom won't admit it... but he had a really good race. He lined up hoping for a top 10... but the course gods had other plans and really recked havoc on the results... so guys who should have been in the top 5 were back in the teens (like Al Blanchard and Paul Curley) and as a result... Tom finished in the top 25. I think Tom does get the award for accumulated the most grub on his body though... it seems that he body surfed (on his back)... with his bike still attached to his feet)... a long down hill on the back side of the course, and actually passed riders trying to ride it.
John had an awesome race... he and Paul were keeping each other company in the war zone and John was holding his own despite a close encounter with a wooden stake. Shortly after Johns race, I saw him standing around and found that he was waiting on Derek, who was racing... so I bought him a cup of hot chocolate. The poor guy was trying to convince Michele and me, he was fine... because he had a layer "on top of his wet skin suit"... but we knew better. His shaking hands and blue lips, told us other wise...
Derek... Now... he's the MAN! After doing 2 races the prior day... he turned around and nailed down a 11th place finish! Wow... I don't know how he turned around and did that all over again...
Nice job to all!!
It was way harder than it looked! And... as the day went on... it only got harder.
Paul's one of the best bike handlers I know... he had a tough day on the ice
Hey! Is there a vaccine for that???
Family photo... but this is NOT our Child!!
Tom bubble wrapping his body in an attempt to stay dry... it looked like a flake jacket!
We had a bunch of "no show's for the awards ceremony"... what gives!!!?
Julie was so excited... she hopped on the podium and forgot to get her Jersey!! God love her!
So... Now, I'm officially a spectator!
I am going to hang out and watch the pros race and then we'll start to head back on Monday.
The first part of our racing job is finished... now we can rest a bit!!
Thanks for all the really great emails, texts and face books comments. You guys are all awesome!!!
Racing isn't any fun without friends.. it would be lonely and hollow... so thanks so much for your love, friendship, support and for believing in us!
One last thank you to Tom.. His coaching and strategy in large part is how I got #7... so thank you so much Tom. That's why you are the COACH!
Until later,
Peanut out
