Most people are perfectly content to drink beer, eat hog dogs, and watch 4 fireworks on 4th of July weekend. I love all 3 of those...but in addition I like to race my bike. Previously I've trekked out to Lawrence, KS; however, with a timed stage race in Grand Rapids, I figured that'd be a hell of a lot less driving and possibly more fun.
Less driving: check
Fun: if you like the pain cave, free steaks, and lots of yogurt, then check.
First, let me explain our host housing situation. It was awesome! Doug, our host, let us take over the bottom half of his condo, gave us free reign in his kitchen (and food!), and in general was just an awesome host. He cooked us tons of brown race, made steaks on Saturday, and literally 5 pounds of yogurt to make smoothies and such with. His house was also really close to every stage, which made driving nice and easy.
Naveen, Doug (from ND), and myself got there Friday evening, went for a quick spin, grabbed dinner, and hit the sack for our early morning TT.
Saturday: 8.5 mile ITT
We got there with about 45 minutes for Naveen and Doug to warm up and about 1.5 hrs for me. When ever I have too much time on my hands I tend to slack off and not actually do the warm up I need to do...something about being a little under pressure gets things going much faster. Plus, I thought we could leave the parking lot to ride around since the finish line was right outside it. Turns out you could have. Doh!
I tool around the parking lot for about 45 minutes, feel decent, and head to the start line. There, Speedy Sheedy and Chris Fisher (my minute and 30 second men, respectively) are discussing which Pro teams they used to ride for, yes indeed, this was going to be a fast one. And there was no hope of catching anyone today.
I guess, in hind sight, I didn't really go hard enough at all. I made the turn around in 8.5 minutes, and then, on what should have been a fast return, I couldn't find a rhythm. I also forgot to stand up and just power over the small risers. In essence, I rode like an idiot, and posted a stoopid slow time of 18:14. Sheedy did a 16:14. I couldn't have been close to that, but I should have been around 17 minutes and instead I was just stupid. Plain and simple.
Sunday: 60 minute crit.
Talk about a boring course: mostly a circle with one 'corner' which was really not a corner at all and never broke up the rhythm. Not a course for breakaways at all, but dammit! I was pissed and going for broke! However, I went about this intelligently (ie: not going from the gun). Instead, I waited for the GC guys to attack and chase each other, which happened within the first 5 minutes. A dangerous split happened, but it all came back together after some really hard chasing done by the Leadout team. It slowed down to a crawl when it came back together, but I just kept going, as did an East Hills guy and a Priority rider:
Here we are with a 50 some second lead, and close to lapping
When the field heard we were close to lapping, Jake Rytlewski brought us back in a few laps and our 30 minute break was over. And then I went again when it slowed up:
This break lasted for about 10 minutes before being caught. And then I went again, for a 120 prime (didn't get it), before trying one more time with 1.5 laps to go.
No time bonuses, no cash, but I did win a few primes: a 12 pack of Gatorade Pro-3 Recovery shake ($60), 2 rolls of kinsio-tape ($16), and 2 bottle cages.
Monday: 91 mile RR:
After bidding farewell to Doug, we made the 20 minute drive to the RR course in Lowell, MI. The legs felt good and I had no desire to be a part of the stereotypical Michigan Racing: sit on wheels and not do any work. Fuck that shit.
After the neutral roll out Liam from XXX attacked and took a Priority rider with him, I bridged up with a Bissell rider, and then a random dude joined us later.
Breakaway from mile 4: check.
We were working really well, but it was not meant to be: I broke a rear spoke at mile 19 thanks to Token making a shitty ass wheel and Michigan for having shitty ass roads. And since it was a small race the wheel truck was behind the field. Awesome. The field came screaming past me a few minutes later, lead by the GC riders (Sheedy, Fisher, and Jake). The wheel change took a really long time, as the driver couldn't open up the back end, but I won't fault the volunteer since he was driving an SUV he wasn't familiar with. Plus, he paced me back up, because there was no way in hell I would have closed down a 5 minute gap on that field- it took us 10 minutes at 40 mph. I got back on right when we caught the break.
And then we went slow through town. Someone lifted the pace for a bit, but then stopped...then I attacked again. I was solo for a few miles until a Leadout rider joined me:
It was just the two of us for the next lap and half. At one point we had a 2 min, 30 sec lead which put me in the virtual black and white leader's jersey. And when the field heard about that, the big guns said, "No Mas" and our gap came down to a minute really quick. And then they let us dangle for the next few miles before sealing the deal with 10 miles to go.
Off the front for 80 miles of a 91 mile road race: check.
The last ten miles played out in typical MI racing fashion: someone attacked, a few will try to chase but no one helps. Gap gets bigger, *panic* go really hard and catch him. Then Liam attacked, and we dicked around, coming really close but then no one else would work to close it off and his gap would go back up. Turns out we left it too late and he won thanks to the on-off chasing. I was waiting until under 1KM to go one last time but I couldn't muster the power to go again. Shame. Ended up 17th on the stage and 11th in the GC....which was good for $10. 10th place got $50, which I missed by 4 seconds.
However, I can walk away saying I was the most aggressive rider (as told to me but several spectators, racers, and officials). Too bad there wasn't an award for that. But, I now know I'm capable of being super aggressive in a crit and road race for long distances...I just have to be a little more intelligent about it, which is coming.
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