What a Memorable Day
I'm pretty tired right now (racing 6 times in 8 days will do that to ya) and I'm now on my 2nd Saranac beer of the night, so it is probably not the best time for me to be blogging. However, I have so many memories from today's race that I just had to write them up while things were still fresh in my head. Maybe next week I'll post a new entry with all of the corrections to all of the errors induced by Saranac and fatigue.
I have to say that without question, today goes down as the most fun race I've done in my short 3 year career. I ended up grabbing 12th in a bunch sprint at the end of the 91 mile epic, and I'm sure that decent finish helped to cement today's race's status for me. But I think I already had lofted today's race to the top of my "fun" list by the time I hit the 75 mile mark (coming off of a wicked fun descent). In fact, I distinctly remember thinking right about then that I really didn't care where I finished in the race as I was having a blast.
So, what made things so fun and memorable? Well....here's just a sampling of why I won't forget this race (and why I'll certainly sign up again next year!).
The first 9 miles or so were slow. I mean really slow -- it felt like a casual Sunday group ride. So, I figured I'd mix it up a bit and push things from the front. Turns out that only one other guy wanted to have fun that early in the race, so before I knew it, we were all by ourselves with the pack no longer in site. The guy I was with seemed really excited to be up there with me. After a brief introduction (his name was TJ), and a quick break-down of how we'll rotate through pulls, we had a pretty good flow going. At one point the official's vehicle pulled up to us and informed us that we had either a minute and 3 seconds or a minute and 30 seconds (too windy to hear him clearly) gap over the pack. It was my best ever break-away attempt as we stayed clear for nearly 9 miles. But I should have known that the break wouldn't have succeeded. TJ was also a hairy legged man like me, and I think there's some official rule that states that at least one member of a legit break has to have clean shaven legs.
Once reabsorbed into the pack, I contentedly rested for a bit and let Expo teammates Steve and Mike mix it up at the front. The rest helped me recover from my break-away attempt, and my batteries were fully recharged after the clouds opened up and the deluge came down. The rain came down so hard that I had a hard time actually seeing the lead riders ahead of me. I took advantage of the rain by opening my mouth and getting a free feedzone water intake. And then the surreal feeling of speeding along without really being able to see combined with the fresh water hitting my mouth set off my internal iPod -- I had the complete sound track to Appetite for Destruction playing through my head, bringing a smile to my face and adrenaline to my legs. There was a problem with my brain iPod though as "Singing in the Rain" started playing for a bit. I guess the fun of blasting away in the torrential down pour made me feel like a kid again.
I think the rain was still pounding our faces as we neared the first of the two feedzones, so I have to once again say thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to SDC and Joe T for giving up their Sunday's and braving the severe weather to support us in my first ever feed zone (another reason why today will be memorable for me). I grabbed 2 bottles on the first feedzone (and handed one off to Steve a bit further down the road), but with the added moisture from the rain, I ended up not needing help on the 2nd feedzone.
[just switched from Saranac to Otter Creek]
Eventually the rain let up and was replaced by deep blue skies, right around the time where it began to get hilly. Now supposedly this course had over 8000 feet of elevation gain, and there's no doubt my legs are sore enough such that I don't question the number. However, I never really felt pushed to the limit by any of the hills, and honestly I can't really remember any one in particular.
After coming off of one of those unremarkable hills we approached a metal grated bridge at mile 66. It was one of those metal bridges that had sort of a lattice structure that allowed you to see the river below us. The race organizers wisely determined that this was unsafe for us to cross with speed, so the race was neutralized and about 40 of us were forced to dismount and walk across the bridge (another first for me). There were a smattering of cyclocross jokes as we trekked our way across the bridge, and then everyone just stopped on the other side. Turns out that most guys don't have bladders that will hold 91 miles worth of bottles, so unfortunately for the lady volunteer marshal working the corner, every rider made their way to the side of the road for a pee break (another first for me).
From then on there were some super fast descents, and a few attempted break aways. A lot of fun for me, but at this point you're just waiting for me to end the post so I won't go into the details.
At about the 88 mile marker, just 3 miles from the finish, the clouds quickly enveloped the sky and cats and dogs were thrown once again at our faces. I knew at this point the lead pack I was in was going to all end up getting the same time, so the thought occurred to me to just play it safe and avoid any rain induced crashes. But, as the finish line neared I changed my mind and put in a respectable race-ending sprint for 12th place. It wasn't long before I had a grin from ear to ear.
Final #s Stage 3
- 4hr 16: 25 (unofficial time from my PT, not race results)
- 91.23 miles
- 2447 kJ
- Norm Power 219
- Avg Power 159
- Max Power 814
- Avg Speed 21.2
- 12th place in a bunch sprint of about 30, same time as the winner
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