I just got flat out beat in the time trial. Hicks is a strong
rider and a very fast time-trialist. However, given better conditions, I think
I would have put up a much better fight to make the race closer. I never got into a comfortable
position on the bike. Early on my head and shoulders felt very heavy and were a
strain on my arms just to hold my body upright. I should have spent more time
on the TT bike to make sure I had my position dialed in. I hadn’t been on it
for over 20 minutes since preparing for a road tri last April. I also forgot to
grease up and the new skinsuit and I did not mesh very well at the saddle
interface. Let’s just say I’m a little scabbed over currently. That aside, I’m
still disappointed in my legs. I’m not sure if I never recovered from ITU or I
was just really having a bad day, but my legs felt like junk for most of the
ride. I assessed my form a few times on the course and I couldn’t pin down what
my limiting factor was. My legs weren’t burning and screaming at me to stop,
but I also wasn’t panting for air. They just didn’t show up ready to go when I
hit it at the start line. I finally got into some rhythm over the last 10K. All
the hills were gone and I was motoring. I would estimate I averaged 28 mph over
those last 6 miles. I’m glad I pushed hard and thought I still had some chance
of winning because if not, I would have been way down in the standings incurring
no points.
Sunday I’d be given another chance for success. The Cat 4
start time was 12:35. It was going to be a hot day with a course completely in
the sun. I did a little warm up on some back roads while the 3’s were still
racing and only got one lap in before we were lining up for our start. The
field was looking big. A lot bigger than the online registration was showing. I
was starting towards the back of the pack and had no buddies in the race with
me. I remained calm and new I would be able to make my way up. That ended up
being the motto for the whole race: remain calm and wait. I gradually moved
forward and was quickly sitting in the top 10 wheels and stayed there for most
of the race with a good time spent as 4th wheel. Harpeth cycling put
in a good amount of work and did a good job protecting their rider Will
Montgomery. I never could figure out what BPC was trying to do. They would send
one guy off the front but never more than 100 meters. And every time we came to
the 120° turn before the slight uphill, one of their guys would charge to the
front which would lead to us bringing the front guy back on the incline every time. I
guess the charging guy might have been trying to get to the front and slow the peloton down,
but that sure wasn’t working. We immediately engulfed him and pulled everything
back together. Going into 2 laps to go, I decided it was time to shift up to
the big ring and get ready to do some work. I edged forward still trying to
save as much as I could but by this time we were booking it around the course.
(So to explain the course, the 120° turn led to 150 meters of flat road before a slight rise in the
road 100 meters long, then a 90° left hand turn that bottle necked the riders
before the open 100 meter flat straight to the finish.)
Approaching the rise, I was sitting 4th wheel
with two Harpeth guys in front of me. As we reached the top and started through
the curve, Will jumped off the front and several others went to the right of me
and one guy to my left. I waited until I was completely through the corner
before I really started mashing on the pedals. Will’s early jump gave him a big
lead once we were in the finish line straight and it didn't seem like I would
be able to catch him. I still saw two maybe three guys to my right that were in
front of me. I continued my sprint but couldn't really tell where the finish line
was with the white lines from the intersection on the ground. I was gaining on
the Nashville Cyclist guy and began overtaking him in the last 20 meters. Ten
meters out we made contact. I pulled off, gave my last kick, and lunged for the
line. Steven, the Nashville Cyclist guy, lost control and crossed the finish
line in 3rd in midair before he slammed into the ground and slid for several meters. As the rest of the group came flying in, Marco didn’t
manage to change course and t-boned Steven in the back and flipped over his
bike landing on his head. Crazy crashes and finish in Murfreesboro.
At the line, I think I had pulled Will back to only a bike
length from me. I know I am faster than him and I hate that I lost to him
again. This is the second time it’s happened because he made the same early
move at Aaron Shafer Road Race for the win leaving me with second. I have to trust my
legs more, go early, and go hard. I’ll be doing some practice work before the
crit state championships. That race is mine.
Now it's time to rest. Legs need to recover and this upcoming weekend is the only race with an HC (hors categorie, beyond categorization) climb finish on the east coast. The Roan Groan finishes with a 9.5 mile climb at an average 6.4% gradient with 4639 feet of climbing in the race.
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