Capital Stage Race 2012: Stage 4 Recap

Well, it's not that I'm bitter about the Queen Stage, as much as there really isn't much for me to tell.

I knew this was a hilly course, which suits me well, and I should be in any break that tried to get away since, our man, John McAllister was in the podium ranks of the GC. This ensures that the field is quite too exhausted from chasing to do anything to stop him 90miles later from taking the sprint. Why would people chase me if I'm not a top contender in the GC? They wouldn't. But you see, I was now 10th GC by only 30 seconds, so if I finish the race with a mere minute up the road, I win Capital Stage race.

I didn't realize how fresh I felt after 2 days of racing, until neutral roll-out. All 49 of us casually follow the lead car until we get onto to course a few miles down the road. Naturally, one guy takes off all by himself the minute the race is on. We let him go. This is a 90mi race. As he gets a couple hundred meters up the road, the guy pulls off by some spectators, likely with a flat tire. Then we come rolling by only to see that it's his wife and two little girls holding a sign for him and that he'd pulled over to give them Father's Day kisses. Aw. That's some Grand Tour shit right there.

About 3 miles into the race, two Pro City Cycling riders attack the field and took off into the fog. John reminds me that this may be a good opportunity to get into a promising move, so I start moving up to find a the sweet spot to jump. I sit on the front right behind Bryan Urakawa (Fischer Plumber Cycling) as he sets the pace for everyone, then jump right as we round a small bend in the road. I was able to close a pretty good gap on the Pro City kids but I don't think anyone in the main group wanted me to get away quite yet so I was reeled in shortly after. I didn't study the course profile before the race so I was just taking everyone's word that the first climb would approach shortly (Michigan Hill?) that would take us 300ft in the air before a descent into the open rolling farmland. It wasn't until we reached the base of the climb that our two lone rangers were no more than 20 meters infront of us. Perfect. I noticed that everyone was struggling a little bit so I took this as an opportunity to turn up the heat to see what would happen.
What Happened:
I accelerated (seated) up the hill closing the gap on Pro City, and either nobody felt like chasing me or simply couldn't hang on my wheel. I'm going to flatter myself and just say nobody could match my pace. Well, almost nobody. Just as I caught the Pro City slipstream, I attacked. To my surprise, they still had some gas in the tank and sat in. Just before the crest I looked back and saw one of them dropping off, and the main field way the fuck back. Well, it's go time I guess. So off we went. We crested the hill and took short pulls to try and get away. Away we did go. I congratulated him inbetween pulls for being probably the only other climber in the pack, then continued our 27mph escape route. We made it approximately 15 miles before being caught by a 30man paceline. If I may explain why we didn't make it 30 miles or further...

-My seatpost was loose and had dropped atleast 2 inches because I forgot to re-tighten it after unpacking it the previous day. -My Pro City Cycling friend was out of gas, we pounded fists after he admitted he was done, and off I went to make the boys work atleast a little harder before swallowing me up.

I had to ride this stupidly low seatpost for another 30mi before I could fix it. For some reason the follow car had no cycling-related tools and nobody in the pack had tools (why would they?) I rode it out until a couple miles before the feed zone on the Vance Creek RR part of the course. I launched a solo chase attempt after a Recycled Cycles guy disappeared, not to actually chase him, but to get a headstart on the hill so I could find an Allen Key at the feed zone to fix my situation. Thorsten Askervold (HSP/Junior Sprint Killer) bridged up to me on said head-start, with a Kona Racing junior and someone else I can't recall. We gapped out the field but I couldn't keep up their pace with a low saddle height so I did my best to hang on until I found a tool. An Old Town Bicycle Racing guy in the feed zone, had what I needed, but he had to feed his boys first. After the feed, he whipped it out and we adjusted my post, gave me a push and I had to chase back on. Unfortunately, the fix took longer than I wanted and the pack was now chasing Recycled Cycles and Thorstens chase group. Fuck. I crested the hill and they where nowhere in sight. FUCK.

I put my head down and rode my heart out in hopes of catching the field. I averaged 24mph on my 45mile solo bridge attempt and never caught them. This was by far the hardest day in the saddle that I've ever had. All by myself, never taking a break to rest, just chasing. Just after re-ascending Michigan Hill before the Independence Valley part of the course, I saw the siren light of the follow car in the distance. Atleast 3 minutes up the road. I gave it all I had to the base of the climb and still couldn't catch back on. I figured I was doomed, so I finished the remainder of the course, hoping to pick up a straggler off the back for some company in the rain. It never happened. I finished 18minutes behind the pack. So I basically rode 70 of the 90 mile race alone. A good workout, but I don't ever want that to happen again - details. Check your shit before you roll up to the start line.

The only pictures to summarize my experience:

(Shortly before being caught on escape attempt #1: Photo Credit-ReedKJ)

(Crossing the finish line 90 miles later as I begin to quote the famous profanity, "FUUUUUU..." : Photo Credit-ReedKJ)

(And finishing what I was saying in udder relief, "UUUUUUUUUCK." : Photo Credit-ReedKJ)

Capital Stage Race 2012: Stage 3 Recap

My favorite part about stage racing is the Time Trial - Crit combo that is usually guaranteed to start or follow the start of these weekend events. Perhaps some people hate that crap: TT your heart out for 3-15mi wait around town for 5+ hours, then try to hang on in the suffer-fest that is crit racing. Personally, my body tends to recover rather quickly from these sorts of efforts, I could do the crit an hour after the TT and still feel fresh. Aside from physiological aspects of back to back stages, what I truly appreciate is that 5+ hours of down time to just relax in a city that I hardly ever (if at all) visit. Find the coffee spot and make sure to hit it up atleast an hour before the crit, or, find it before the TT and double up. Coffee is our friend. So are burritos. This combination can often be found in most metropolitan areas.

After the time trial, Jess and I took a nap in Heritage Park along Dechutes. Since a park bench is only so comfortable, it wasn't long (maybe and hour) before we decided it was Burrito o'clock. I remember a pleasant experience from last year at a joint called, Quality Burrito. Basically any burrito spot that can execute a decent vegan meal wrapped in a tortilla is "pleasant" worthy to me. As expected, it was a 4-star experience. I doubt any place, other than my own kitchen, will ever reach 5-star service, so we'll leave it at that. With hours to kill, we walked off our full bellies around the crit course to view the other races. This was helpful because it's basically considered "course-reconnaissance" where I can see what troubles in the road my lie ahead for us. There wasn't much, well... EXCEPT THERE WEREN'T ANY HAY-BALES TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE ON THE COURSE - AGAIN. I already had a problem with this race last year not having any safty measures to prevent catastrophic injury, since this is a 7 corner sloped circuit. Caution tape never saved anyone from a collision.

As the Pro/1/2 race began, Jess and I set up a spot near the start/finish line for her to spectate and for me to warm up on the trainer. So I warmed up for 60 minutes. I still can't decide if that was a good or bad move. Either way, by the time the Cat 3 Men were called up to the line, I was sweaty and ready to race my bike. Gun off and so were we. The thing about crits is that the pace is hot (really fast) for atleast 10-15 minutes before the strong guys get tired. This is when I usually wait to launch my series of attacks to string the field out and instigate a breakaway. This is important to me for 2 reasons.
1) The sprinters get tired so I have better odds against them in the end
or
2) A breakaway sticks and I'm racing against 5 (or so) guys instead of 50+
Both of these options are safer in the long run since less people are showing up to the finish line all at once. My style.

The only thing wrong with this fantasy crit scenario I've laid out for you is that it doesn't always follow the rules. In Stage 3, for example, the pace was about 25mph from start to finish. It never slowed. There was no breakaway. When I attacked, I was immediately chased. A couple teams, mostly Apex Racing, had it on their agenda to make sure their man, Todd Baumeister, crossed the line first. This means shutting down all moves by others while making the average speed fast enough to fatigue even the largest of legs. Fortunately, our Junior, Thorsten Askervold (11th GC) and yours truly (10th GC) are smart crit racers so we knew where to be when the final laps approached. It's not secret, if you want to do well in a crit, you must be in the top 5 wheels in the last 2 laps of the race. If the pace is insane, you better be there in the last 5 laps or so.
We were.

[Pink Jersey - Race Leader, Todd Baumeister of Apex Racing)

Going into the last lap, Thorsten was 2nd wheel and I was 5th, with the leaders of the race right behind me. As predicted, coming out of the last corner, there was a gnarly crash because some people got a little too antsy a little too late in the race. Thorsten ended up out-sprinting the guy in front of him for a couple bike-lengths of a victory and I managed to pass 1 guy for a 4th place. I was maybe a tyre length away from 3rd. That doesn't really matter, he beat me regardless. But wouldn't you know, Big Todd was the poor soul to go flying out of the last corner into a bus-stop bench (where someone went crashing into the year before, and still no hay-bale) where he suffered lacerations to his legs and arms and a cracked helmet (as i recall?). Todd is huge, like 225lb huge (correct me Apex Racing if I'm wrong) so the bench suffered more than he did. But this blog is about me and my team, so I'm going to end this wrap up with a "Fuck Yeah Thorsten! Way to show these punks what PNW Crit Racing is all about! And woohoo to me, I got 4th in my second Cat3 crit."

(Thorsten Askervold - 16yrs old, Herriott Sports Performance)

It was motivating to see my Darling by the finish line every lap since she doesn't get to see what this racing thing is all about very often, so I was obligated to crush it in front of her. Also, I wanted to prove to the team that I can deliver. I can be aggressive and still place well, I can be aggressive and still keep our man protected.

In all crashes that go down during the last lap of a crit, there can be a lot of finger pointing but it all comes down to you in the end. YOU had the whole duration to get into position or make that risky winning move, if you went down because you procrastinated, it's your own damn fault. If you were the shit-head that caused the crash, you know who you are and have to live with that. Both suck, so race smart and know your abilities before 10 to go.