Well, I had high hopes for Roan Groan, but I think in the
back of my mind I was skeptical all along. And when we hit the climb, it became
clear to me that I am still weak. And very slow going up.
The peloton approached the climb together with no breaks. As
we started ascending, I was sitting 3rd wheel behind Hicks pulling
and Nathaniel 2nd wheel. Couldn’t have asked for it any better
position wise. I shifted down to keep a high cadence, but never really fell
into a rhythm. My heart rate shot up to over 180 and stayed there. About 2 or
so miles into the climb it became clear I was not going to be able to hang when
Hicks accelerated again and a huge group came around me to stay on his wheel as
I went back through the field. It was a huge group and very demoralizing. I was
spinning a high cadence, but I just couldn’t go any faster. My heart was
pounding and it was all I could do to keep on pushing the same pace I’d been
going. The climb was relentless too. Around every turn was just another long
rise. There were some great views though. I yo-yoed with some other riders for
a while as we pressed on. I wish we had finished at Carver’s gap because that’s
about where my body started to really hurt and wanted to quit. But no, we took
a right hand turn and continued on for another 1.75 miles. At this point we
were climbing into the clouds that covered the road limiting sight of the
ever-rising road. The temperature was dropping and the wind was strong. This
section of the climb really seemed to go on and on and I never knew where the
finish was supposed to come. My computer already read over the stated mileage
of the race. Then all of a sudden out of the clouds there were some volunteers
telling us to stay to the left as we made a right turn. Weird to be on the
left. Then there was the finish. The monstrous climb was finally concurred. The
wind and 40 degree temperature on top of the mountain made it very chilly up
top while we were standing around. Thankfully, I got a ride from a teammate so
I didn’t have to bike the course backwards to get back to my car.
After a short rest and some lunch, I was back at it warming
up for the TT. It was supposed to be a 3.2 mile straight course with a one mile
climb and a 6.7% descent on the backside. At the start line, I got some advice
from last year’s RR champion which I think really helped: attack the hill hard
and do what you can for the rest of the race. Well, I hit it hard and caught my
30 second guy at the top of the hill which was definitely less than a mile. The
descent was definitely not 6.7% so I didn’t get to recover much from redlining
it on the climb. I pushed on, but began to run out of gas and struggle as the
finish line was nowhere in sight. On the flat straight I continued to give it
as much as I could until I saw some cars including a cop car up a slight rise
blocking the road off. I figured this was the finish so I backed off a bit in
preparation for the rise. About this time, I saw the true finish where the
officials were. So I ran out of gas, but I think attacking the hill was still
the better thing to do. Finished in 8:26 good enough for 3rd, 7
seconds behind 1st and 5 behind 2nd.
Sunday’s crit started out very fast. I think we probably
dropped half our field in the first 5 to 7 laps. It got the HR up and going and
made me shift up to the big ring; something I don’t usually do until late into
the race. At some point, a small kid went off the front at which I told myself
not to worry about him because I didn’t think he was strong enough to stay off
for the next 10 or so laps. I don’t know when or how it actually happened (wish
I had seen it and gone with him), but a BPC rider bridged the gap up to the
solo leader. No one in the peloton wanted to work with Will and me so our
efforts to pull the two leaders back were futile. The group was going to be
sprinting for 3rd place. I knew where I wanted to jump and then
launch my sprint since I had scouted the course earlier in the day between some
other races. What I hadn’t planned on was leading the entire last lap. However,
it was working out just fine. I had a strong pull and accelerated on the rise
preventing anyone from attacking me. I came through the last corner in first
and shifted into the appropriate gear. I gave another acceleration and still no
one was beside me. It was beginning to look like I was going to take the sprint
without ever actually sprinting. Then about 25 meters from the finish line, the
announcer said one lap to go. I was confused. I was pretty sure that they rang
the bell last time around, but the laps-to-go had seemed to be jumping around
and we had only been riding 35 minutes in a 40 minute race. I sat up at which
point two racers passed me before the line. Ended up that was actually the last
lap and I took 5th. I was
pissed. I tried to talk to the announcer after I finished my cool down lap, but
it was obvious he was an idiot and didn’t know what he was doing. It was too
difficult and frustrating trying to talk to him so I just left and did another
lap.
Good things about the race were that it was a really fun
course with two sections of narrow alley way and tight corners combined with
wide sweeping ones right after. I also took the first prime of the race away
from Will as we were coming through the last corner. Then for the second prime,
I passed Will in the corner and then beat another rider about 10 meters from
the line. It felt good to snatch those away. I also have to consider it a
positive that my legs were feeling good, I timed and planned the move right,
and I was outriding my competitors. Really wish I had gotten those 7 more BAR
points and 20 more dollars though.
I managed to hang onto the BAR leader spot but just barely.
Things have been shaken and I need some good performances at the next few races
if I want to pull it out. Time to get back to training.
Some photos I took of the Cat 3 race.
