Roan Groanin’

Another lengthy but action packed weekend report...

In my latest installment into the paved world of bicycle racing I fared well yet again and our team shined again with excellent tactics to sweep all the top spots in the omnium.

Roan Groan (Road Race)-

I was the ire of the weekend, as apparently no roadies understand bling.

As we turned out of the parking lot 3 guys attacked. The absurdity of this move was soon mocked in kind by the peloton but it was entertaining to see them get about a mile down (until they were about the size of ants) the road and then reel them in within about 5 minutes. I could hear the fail music playing the background. (Wah wah wahhhhhhh). As we got a little further down the road and began some gentle rollers I realized quite suddenly and unpleasantly that I was going to have to urinate. My water bottles were both full at this juncture so I immediately ruled out that option. Two of my teammates were on the front of the peloton so I sprinted hard as I could to the front of the group and told them I was attacking up the road to pee and to slow things down if they could. I got about a 40 second gap on the field and pulled it over for the fastest pit stop of my life. Lesson learned, don’t over hydrate before the race in the morning and excessive caffeine is bad to that end as well.

As we approached the base of the climb a moto ref came back to inform us that a break that had formed off of one of the small climbs leading up to Roan was now 3 minutes up the road. At this point we had just turned right towards the mtn and there was visible agitation in the group. The UK collegiate squad, which had a sizeable team presence, moved to the front and started working pretty hard. As we approached the first pitch of climb we pulled in all the escapees save one who was still up the road barely in sight. After a few more minutes of sitting on some UK wheels I decided to make the first move out of the pack bringing Cameron and Tim with me with a small signal. As we moved to the front the field was already fracturing and the chase group with the climbers on the day was now forming.

Cameron and I took a few digs and then some very strong Krystal riders took a few digs as we clawed our way towards the last remaining and defiant rider ahead. It was apparent at this rate we would not catch him, so Cameron and I both upped the tempo until we were noticeably closing the gap at the risk of popping we had to catch the man up the road. As we approached him we took a small rest and then with a surge designed to drop him as we passed, we shot by on the false flat area.

I looked behind me and to my surprise this guy had latched on as we passed him at probably a good 8 mph faster than he was going. This was frustrating combined with the fact that Tim had started cramping and now the sole break away consisted of Cameron, “Strong Krystal climber guy”, and break away guy in 29’er outfit. At 3 miles to the top of Carver’s Cameron laid down a wicked attack which I was prepped for as he slid by me and we managed finally to shed 29’er guy. Then there were three…

Krystal guy wasn’t taking any digs with Cameron and I doing the blunt of the work up the climb. Cameron put in another scorcher and we almost lost contact. Then Krystal guy vaulted in front of Cameron who was recovering of his latest attack and got a good gap on both of us. At this point I thought the race was over but Krystal guy had cooked himself pretty good and I was able to pull back up to him even after a stupid mis-shift which caused my chain to temporarily derail. At this point it was apparent Cameron was going to stay about 60 feet back and it was up to me to try to fend off the Krystal. We traded repeated attacks back and forth and we were at a virtual stalemate. We knew that the course ended after a slow rounding left, it just was in no way apparent which one it was. We sprinted around several corners only to be greeted by more climbing. Rounding the final slow left corner towards carver’s gap he dropped his head for just a moment and I decided to go. As I slid by I heard a grunt of frustration and this helped fuel my effort.

As I rounded the corner I saw people and cars parked and decided this must be it, or near to the summit so I put it in the big ring and put everything I had into it. If I had not gotten a few bike lengths on Krystal guy he surely would have beat me at the line as my final pedal strokes across it felt like wet noodles trying to dance on the pedals. So I started out the weekend with a win and whole lot of lactic acid in my legs. It was very exciting to get a mtn top win and the balds on top were stunning combined with the scenery. I was in my own personal finish in the Appalachian Alps. Cameron managed to fend off the 29er’ guy and Tim and Rich Kidd (aka Shaggy) were not far behind. Our team racked up yet again.

It must have been the bling.

Time trial-

The time trial was the penultimate in "sufferfestability". The left hand loop barely a mile included a rather steep hill, which you had to ride completely once and then ride halfway up again to finish. At 1.7 miles I knew this was not going to be my course. Every ounce of anaerobic threshold, V02 max, and dry heaving threshold I had was not enough to pull off my performance at the Springer TT but I was very satisfied with a 4^th place finish, missing the podium by .5 seconds. Shaggy and Tim had phenomenal performances and pulled in at second and 3^rd respectively. Cameron pulled off an 11^th place finish, even with a few shifting problems.

The Crit-

We had a mixed start in the front and rear of the field until we could get linked up together in the peloton.

Traffic was thick for the first few laps until Chuck popped some people off the back.

The Zebra striped, red shouldered warriors dominated the field.

Once again the highlight of strategy for the weekend we slayed this thing like death metal guitarists at an all night rave. Right off the gun the Honorable Charles Cerney, a traffic court man by day, shot off the line in complete reckless disregard for posted speed limits and signals flying through the course. Our plan was to have him burn a few laps and hopefully drop a few people off the back. It worked beautifully and thanks to him a few people we were worried about in the GC were actually dropped. From here out we moved slowly up the field from the middle of the pack towards the front, assembling our troops for the ensuing battle to come.

The course was hairy to say the least. The main drag funneled down into a one lane chicane of an alley which then proceeded through a series of S turns that proved very technical and devoid of many truly safe lines. Again here mtn bikes cornering can in handy and I found that I was able to accelerate at the end of the straight into the corner and duck lower inside where I did the majority of my passing. Cameron and I both tried some dig on the front and attacks but nothing stuck. At about ½ way there was a prime that I somehow won and got my lunch paid for the day at a local sandwich shop.

After that sprint as the field was recovering a man jumped with Cameron on the front and they were able to stick about a 7 second gap on the field. I made my way to the front of the peloton and commenced gap extension. I managed with a little help from Shaggy to extend this gap to a maximum of 20 seconds. Then the UK squad leaped into action. A flurry of coordinated attacks from their 5 riders halved the gap in short order. With my advantage off the front stretch corner I eventually figured out a good place to repeat a pass after sucking wheel the entire front stretch each lap. As I dove into the alleyway and S turns I would purposely soft pedal and drop the speed of the peloton a few mph. This worked beautifully for the rest of the race. While it was hard work it was enjoyable and every time the UK team’s coach or rider’s voices would pipe up behind me in a streaming line of obscenities, it would only strengthen my resolve to sit on the front and not work for that sake of Cameron in the break. I managed to keep their advantage between 12 and 15 seconds until the end of the race.

Cameron and his break mate.

I tried my best to move to the front on the tight turns, where I could out corner my competitors in efforts to control the field.

Speaking of dirty tactics many thanks to Alex Dayton a Jr. who was “spotting” for me. I told him if he let my break stick I would be his lead out man in the field sprint for 3^rd. He agreed and when a rider would move up to pass he would call out the side the attack was coming from so I could move over and cover it. This was ultra frustrating to the riders behind but I decided if I could keep the whole field at bay by myself they just weren’t trying hard enough to reel in the break.

Alex riding "spotter" behind me.

Shortly after here I would move over to cover the UK guys as Alex let me know which side they were on.

The final lap was a pure cluster of hell, attacks came from every direction. The hornet’s nest of riders I had been throwing rocks at the previous 10 laps by myself was alive and pissed. The UK guys all dropped in front of me and pulled Tim and Shaggy with them along with some others, as I was spent at this time and I knew the break was going to stick till then end. As we rounded the final S turn an overzealous UK rider exceeded the friction coefficient for his tires and hit the deck hard sending riders in every direction, as he was the 3^rd man back in the peloton. My last vision of Tim saw him flying into the curb and Shaggy just barely missed getting clipped by a rider on the inside. I managed to claw my way from about 20^th at this point up to 7^th and to my jubilation heard that Cameron had pulled off the sprint win! Unfortunately with his win Cameron and I tied for omnium points and he won out with his better placing overall in the weekend events, but I wasn’t so concerned with that as the fact that our team once again dominated the overall taking the first 3 spots of the omnium points series.

In all, another awesome day of teamwork! I think an upgrade to Kitty 3 road rider is on its way and if so, this I will be truly sad and missing having teammates like this around me to support and return the favor. I need to get back in the dirt soon, or I might start liking this road racing stuff.

Thanks mom for all the crit shots with a point and shoot camera.