Today's theme at the nationals road race was much the same as yesterday, lots of fast guys fighting for position, some big attacks, and a big group battle leading into the finish.
The road race course was a 77+ miles crossing the mountain ridge East of Ogden. The first 50 miles consisting of smaller, flatter loops, followed by an amazing descent through a rocky canyon past a waterfall, a long and grinding climb up to 6000 feet of elevation on Ogden Canyon Road, and finally a short descent into the finish.
The first 50 miles of short loops were flat and fast from the start, with several riders attacking to try and get gaps off of the front, only to be pulled back after a while by the bigger, stronger teams including Duke (team time trial and crit champions), Air Force, and Mars Hill.
Finally, after one of the more fun descents I've ever done through a canyon into Ogden, the climbing commenced. As a larger rider, long climbs have never been my strong point, so I knew this might be a rough day for me. Still, I tried to stay near the front and give myself a shot at a good finish. As we neared the final two (and largest) climbs of the day, a couple of riders were still hanging off the front. One the first climb Zach from MIT, one of the stronger riders from the ECCC, went to the front of the pack and put the pedal down, sweeping up the last riders and making life miserable for everyone.
After a short respite, we hit the biggest climb, climbing more than 1400 feet over 4 miles at an average gradient of well over 7 percent. By the end of mile one, it was clear that I had made a poor choice of gearing and wasn't prepared for the steady slopes. I popped off the back of the pack, now down to about 30 riders, and started the slow, lonely grind to the top. At this point, I would like to say thank you to the dozens of awesome people who poured cold water on me, shot me with squirt guns, and yelled encouragement over the next 3 miles of miserable, painful climbing. These things might not sound enjoyable, but when your heart rate is hovering around 200, a blast of cold water can be a life saver.
Anyway, I eventually rolled over the top and began the wide and fast descent back toward the finish line. Fortunately, I had driven the descent by car before the race and had some idea of what I was up against, so I was able to catch several riders in the closing miles. Still, I ended up right near the middle of the pack in 40th place. This was good enough for 19th place on the weekend omnium, which again, was a result beyond my wildest dreams.
To wrap up, once again I'd like to thank all of our awesome sponsors for their support this season. Cutters Bike Shop in Bethlehem once again provided us with some great Specialized gear and lots of top-notch maintenance. My new CycleOps Fluid2 trainer was a huge upgrade from my previous non-existent trainer. Additional support from Barb Turanchik, Doug Strange and Campus Athletics, Rodale/Bicycling Magazine, Around Town Bikes/Rich Adams Custom Frames, and LU Cycling alumna Kiki Schuck helped to keep the team rolling this year and fund our travel. You are all much appreciated!
-Brandon K.
No comments:
Post a Comment