Today was super-windy, as forecasted, and in combination with the two back-to-back hills each lap, made today’s race a “race of attrition”. We had our full elite squad with Ben, Hugo, Kelsey, Ken, Ted and myself. Wind was steady at 20 MPH with gusts up to 40!

While getting ready for our start we watched as the earlier groups went by. Kurt, Intermountain Orthopaedics‘ fearless leader, was still grinning coming up the Deer Flat hill (first picture). All of the fields were shattered with hardly any groups bigger than eight riders. Henry was also smiling as he plugged along (second picture). Maybe they were all delusional?

I got in a quick warm-up on the trainer with my PowerTap bike. I’m glad I brought it to warm up on, as it helped me determine whether the last two days of high power/low perceived exertion was a fluke or not. Power looked good and my legs felt decent, so not a fluke. But after my warm-up, we had the usual delays getting the race underway so we ended up standing around for a bit.

We finally got underway and after a short descent, we started to climb the biggest hill of the course. While the pace wasn’t super hard the first time up, I was hurting! My body doesn’t do well going semi-hard from a standstill. But by the top of the hill I was feeling better. I was glad I pre-rode the course last week. Doing so helped me determine that I’d need a 12-27, and I was thankful for it, every time up the hill!

After the climb, there were some attacks, but once we hit the headwind, it mostly stayed together. The wind was so strong, that even on flat ground we were dipping below 15 MPH! Hugo made it into what looked to be a promising break, but eventually it was caught. After heading west on Deer Flat, we made the right on Chicken Dinner which put us in a major crosswind! There was dust blowing sideways from a freshly plowed field and sand dunes were creeping onto the left side of the road! Since the wind was so gusty, the pack was real sketchy.

The pace picked up and things were getting so chaotic that I didn’t feel safe. That’s when I attacked and got a small gap. I’d rather be suffering and safe off the front, than be behind in the gutter and risk crashing out! I wasn’t sure what was going on behind me, but it ended up that there was a split in the field. Unfortunately, only Hugo and I were the only ones from our team to make the front group. Once we all settled in, I counted and realized we were outnumbered: 5 Bob’s, 4 Bode’s and 2 IO’s. Bummer!

The second time up the hill we kept it together then started rotating as we headed into the headwind. Hugo was riding strong today and he didn’t mind pulling through, so I let him represent IO at the front while I conserved my energy. Since we were outnumbered, I knew I had to conserve energy for the inevitable attacks to come. As we got into the tailwind sections, I joined in the rotation and we had a nice paceline going…or so I thought.

When we were on Elbow Lane, Bode’s SM took a long, hard pull. I was second-wheel so I made note of our current speed so I knew what speed to maintain when I pulled. When he pulled off, I kept the same pace but took a much shorter pull. I was was barely easing up after my pull when someone yelled from behind, “Ride as a group!” It was one of the Bob’s riders. I could tell from his tone that it wasn’t just a friendly reminder, but he was pissed! I responded that it wasn’t me, but SM who was pulling hard. But that seemed to make Bob’s even more mad as he came back with “Whatever!” and another Bob’s rider chimed in “We’ll attack the #$^ out of you if you don’t ride as a group?!”

Whoa!? Their response took me aback, I couldn’t believe it! I felt like I was riding with a bunch of adolescents. But later I realized that I shouldn’t take it personally as I witnessed them yelling at their own teammates with the same tone and language!

Anyway, the race went on and things stayed together for yet another time up the hills. But shorly thereafter, we were joined by a group from the behind. Fortunately, Ted and Kelsey were there so now we had four riders in the front group. Unfortunately, our team reunion was short-lived! When we were on Chicken Dinner and it’s now infamous crosswind, for the 4th time, things shattered again. Bob’s pegged it at the front. Hugo was smart and positioned himself right up there, but Ted, Kelsey and I were far enough back that we popped off. Ted rode by me and I latched onto his wheel. I could tell he was digging deep and that he was doing it to get me up there. I pulled through to give Ted a short break, then he took another monster pull and got us within range.

We had a couple Bode riders with us and on Riverside Road, JD took an incredible pull and we finally caught the front group. When I got there, I looked back and realized that Ted and Kelsey weren’t with us…bummer! So at this point, the front group was down to 3 Bob’s, 3 Bode’s and 2 IO’s. Outnumbered, again!

Then going up the Deer Flat hill the fourth time, my bike started to feel weird. I did the bounce-up-and-down thing and realized that I had a front flat! Since I had tubulars, I debated about riding it as far as I could before I changed it. But when the hill leveled off slightly, I thought that would be the best place to change it. So I stopped and took off my front wheel while the wheel van arrived. I yelled for my “blue” front wheel, which the driver kindly got for me (thanks again, Jonathan!)

I quickly put it in my bike, but had to tighten my skewer a lot to secure it. I had forgotten that my Trek dropouts are thinner than my Kestrel and didn’t adjust it before putting it in the truck. Note to self: Always adjust your spare-wheel skewers to fit your race bike, before putting them in the wheel van!

Once I got on the bike and started riding, my front wheel started clicking. I knew exactly what it was: My cyclocomputer sensor was hitting the wheel magnet. So, while riding I carefully reached down to the sensor and rotated it enough to stop hitting (don’t try this at home, kids!). I had to be careful not to get my fingers caught in the spokes, but I managed to do it unscathed.

Once all that was straightened out, I was a quite a bit behind the group so I went into time-trial mode. I took the Deer Flat hill at a medium tempo, easing back into a good rhythm. I bombed the descent to the second hill, trying to carry as much speed as possible. Then I started on the second hill and could see the group ahead. I could tell that someone had attacked, with the other four behind. I couldn’t tell who was off the front, but I knew Hugo was in the group of four (having a bright orange kit, helps identification!)

I went threshold up the hill and then pushed on the flatter, tailwind sections before Nash Lane. I knew if I were to catch them, I’d have to do it before the headwind on Nash. Despite my effort, I still had a 300-meter gap when I made the turn into the headwind, darn! So I got into the drops, trying to get aero, and pushed hard against that wind. I actually didn’t mind being on my own as I like riding at my own pace…that’s probably why I’m decent at time trialing.

When I came around the corners on Nash Lane, I could see someone up the road. I kept a steady pace and eventually caught him. It was JM of Bob’s. We started rotating and I could tell he wasn’t feeling so hot. On Chicken Dinner for the last time, we were pounded by the crosswind and sand. We rotated through until we got to the small riser, two-thirds the way down, then JM just stopped in his tracks! When I looked back, he looked like a statue…hardly moving. He was blown, probably the result of one of his attacks while he was with the front group.

I continued to push onward and could still see remnants of the front group up the road. This race wasn’t over yet! I pushed it on Riverside and Elbow and finally made it to Deer Flat. When I reached the bottom of the hill, I was in striking distance of the last rider, who, unfortunately, was Hugo. I caught and passed him early on the hill and was making ground on a Bode rider. I managed to close on him with 200 meters to go, but he looked back and knew I was coming, so he picked up his pace. By the line, I wasn’t able to completely close the gap, so ended up in 6th place, two seconds back.

Total mileage was 71.4 miles with a super-slow average speed of 20 MPH. That shows how tough that wind was! As a team we raced well and everyone’s form is steadily improving. I did manage to move up to 4th GC in the George’s Series, only 1:02 behind TR of Bode. There’s only one race left in the series, but with my form coming around, I think a top-three is still realistic. Emmett-Roubaix will be another race of attrition; it has a 2-mile gravel section of road, so you never know what could happen! Hopefully I’ve filled my mishap quota for the series!

Full results on Spondoro.com:
http://www.spondoro.com/results/ChickenDinner/2007/results.pdf