Today was the big day, the 100-mile Dooley Mountain Road Race. The course was mostly flat for the first 30 miles then there were 3 major hills then another section of flat before going up the 7-mile, 2000 foot climb up Dooley Mountain. The women were the first to go off, which meant that most of the fields starting after them would have to pass them. But being that they’re typically the slowest group, it would make it so they wouldn’t be out there in the desert during the hottest part of the day. So I bid farewell to Heather and I staged myself.

Initially, I thought it might be a good idea to try and get in an early break and get a time cushion before the first set of hills. But after being near the front while a flurry of attacks occurred, I realized that we had a headwind and that I didn’t have as much power in my legs to do that type of move. I did feel better today, but not that much better. So I settled in towards the back of the pack making sure I always had a good draft.

We hit the first climb although it wasn’t one of the three that got pointed out in the race bible. It was like a warm-up climb. I could feel my HR go up and I was breathing hard, but I was able to maintain my position towards the front of the pack. Then we had a descent and some flat before the first “real” climb. The scenery got familiar as I had ridden this course in prior years. I could tell we were coming up to the first climb and so I moved to the front again. The climb started and since there were a couple riders off the front, the big teams set tempo at the front. This was good since it made the pace consistent, but it was a pretty tough pace. I also forgot how long this climb was and I was hurting by the last third. I still stayed up there but I was right at my threshold. I was extremely happy when that hill was over.

On the next three climbs, the pace wasn’t as hard, but it still took a bit of work for a non-climber like me. But I managed to make it over all of them with the pack. But looking around after the last climb I realized the pack was a lot smaller at this point. It looks like there were a few casualties from the high tempo being set on those climbs.

Now it was time for what I call the “death march”. That’s because it was 30 miles of hot desert terrain before we made the final ascent up Dooley Mountain. The temps were in the 90’s today and it was getting toasty as it was almost noon by this point. The pace stayed tempo the rest of the way. I had managed to get two bottles at the first feed and I wanted to get another two on the second feed. But since the second feed zone wasn’t on a hill, speeds were higher and I was only able to get one. Then a few of us had to chase a bit to get back on as the feed zone broke up the pack a bit.

We finally made it to the last climb and I tried to get to the front for some wind protection, but I was only able to hang with them for a brief moment. Then I settled into a more sustainable pace, as 7 miles is a long way to climb. I ended up in a group of about four riders and we rotated a bit as we climbed. There was a slight headwind at times so having a group was helpful. Although on the early slopes of the climb, I wasn’t as strong as the others, but by the time we got near the top I seemed to get stronger. We picked off a lot of riders who dropped off the front group. Some would try to latch on, but we would ride right by most of them. As we got to 5k to go it was just three of us and we worked together all the way to the line, not worrying about places. We were just trying to not lose any more time. It was a tough climb, especially after 100 miles plus 2 days of racing.

At the top, they had water, fruit, and other snacks. When I stopped I realized how hard I must have been pushing myself since I felt just plain awful! I guzzled some water and then lied down for a few minutes. After that awful feeling subsided, I ate some fruit and found a group to ride back to town with. To add insult to injury, I still had to ride 17 miles back to our car which was parked at the Baker City High School. At least 7 of those miles were downhill, but we still had to fight a headwind back into town.

The four of us rotated until the Baker City sign and then I started pushing a little more since I knew Heather would be finishing soon. I retrieved the car and went straight back the way I came to go pick up Heather. When I arrived all the way back up to the finish area, I found Heather. I was surprised that the women already finished. Heather didn’t look too good. It was obvious she had a bad race. I gave her some ice-cold water and after a few minutes, she finally told me she had some intestinal issues over the last 10 miles of the race and barely made it to the port-a-potty after crossing the line. Even though she was the last woman to finish today, surprisingly, she still ended up 7th overall! I ended up 27th today, which moved me up 12 places to 29th overall. Not bad for a training race with lots of climbing. It was definitely a great training weekend for both of us. We just need to figure out better on-the-bike nutrition for Heather. With her allergy food restriction diet, finding things she can eat on the bike has been a challenge. But we should be able to figure it out.