I'll keep this a bit more brief than the last report partly because I'll be eating a smaller breakfast today. And again, this will just be what I remember ...I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot.
Well, it was some shit weather! But at least it wasn't cold. There were 81 starters in the 3's for the 70 miles. Apex had me, Lyle, Ben, Alex, Bernie and John B.
It was just dumping as we rolled out. My glasses immediately fogged up so I just took them off. And as a result, I'm still rubbing sand and grit out on my eyes this morning.
Most of us Apexers rolled out about mid pack and as a result didn't make the first big break of the day. It looked to be a group of about 10-12 with every major team represented, except us. They got a pretty decent gap before Lyle and I were able to work our way to the front. We started working to pull it back but weren't getting much help from anyone else. Lyle too his customary 1 mile pull and then I'd do a little work. Eventually a strong guy from UW came and helped. A Second Ascent guy tried to bridge up and helped fire up a bit more chasing. Eventually the break came back. It was early to be chasing breaks but it seemed entirely plausible that that particular group could have gotten several minutes on us and the race would have been over.
Sometime early in the 2nd lap Alex came to the front and launched a wicked counter attack. After that, he pretty much marked or closed down everything that tried to get away without us. He did a great job of managing the front of the field while Lyle and I took a break. I'd move up every so often and do a little work after Alex had chased something down but he did a great job by himself up there. By the 3rd lap I had yet to see Ben at all, so I thought perhaps he'd had a mechanical and wasn't even in the race anymore. But soon he popped up near the front and started attacking. He got away several times with pretty good combinations of riders but nothing stuck because he's a marked rider. So if he would get out there with a 2 or 3 other guys then people would start trying to bridge up. That would slowly create a string of riders that would bring the whole pack up. More than once this Hagens guy would chase down a break with his own teammate in it. It happened at least twice, maybe three times. I wouldn't have minded but it helped bring back a break with Ben in it. I can't recall the chronology exactly but Ben instigated at least 3 breaks in the last couple of laps. They were all well timed but for various reasons didn't stay away.
Anyhow, nothing was really sticking. With about a lap to go Recycled sent a guy off the front and he got a huge gap and seemed to be holding it. They had guys on the front setting a false tempo and nobody was chasing. So I went up and worked as long as I could to bring him back. Once the gap had shrunk enough, people started helping a bit and he was brought back.
Things seemed to stay together until the last time up the steep hill about 4-5 miles before the finish and then Recycled guy and a Starbucks guy got off the front. They got a gap pretty quickly while people recovered from the hill. And nobody chased! They just let it slip away. And I say 'they' because neither Lyle or I could get to the front. People were just dawdling and the road was jammed. Finally after a few miles we got to the front. I tried to encourage other teams to chase but everyone was just looking at each other. Lyle and I took a couple of turns but there was no way to pull it back without just perfectly setting up everyone else. In any case, Lyle and I were in front for about the last 1.5k. And Lyle basically pulled the for the last 1k while I sat behind him trying to wave other people through. I thought perhaps a last minute surge could bring the break back in the sprint. But nobody came around and Lyle was just stuck there. I decided to sprint for third so I dropped back a couple of wheels and was immediately boxed in while guys literally turned their heads and looked at each other... waiting for someone to go. I guess I shouldn't have let anyone past me and gone at 250 meters. But we probably lost about 5-10 mph at the bottom of the hill. I was way overgeared by the middle of the hill and could just barely turn over the pedals. I felt great but a couple of guys who chose the correct gear slipped by me in the last 20 meters. Alas! I ended up 9th, Lyle 18th and Alex 24th. Ben rolled in with the group having done a ton of work in breaks. Bernie and John lasted as long as they could in the race but are still honing their form.
As a side note, I think they need to open up both sides of the road at about 400meters. It's ridiculous to have only one lane open going into a downhill sweeping turn before the finishing climb. It totally clogs and slows the finish while also making it more dangerous.
It was unfortunate (for us anyway) that none of the other teams wanted to work to bring back the break when it really counted. But I have to say that Recycled rode a great race and deserved the win. They must have learned something after their experience at Vance Creek last week. All in all I think we rode a really good race considering we only had four of us out there for the whole race. We could have used a guy like Greg there at the end but I'm satisfied that we raced well, in spite of not-so-great results. Everyone did their work and contributed in useful ways. Personally, I had a great time racing yesterday. The race was interesting, frustrating, active, tactical and kinda hard at times... just like racing is supposed to be.
-Scott
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment