40 is the new 30
I raced the Bear Lake Classic yesterday, 104 miles of wind and rollers. This was my first race with my new team FFKR/SBO and I was not sure what to expect. I new we had a lot of strength but since I have not raced with them yet I was unsure what the team dynamic would be. Our plan was to have some one in every move and when they get in a move don’t block. That is just low class. Right off the bat Norm Bryner goes up the road and K-Rad is on him. It was a great move because it did not have a PCCA or Logan Race club (the two largest teams) rider in it, meaning they would have to chase and we could sit back and wait for the counter. Actually it meant that PCCA would have to chase as LRC does not do that. So the front of the race has yellow guys riding tempo keeping the gap manageable. K-Rad and Norm eventually get caught and another attack gets clear with another FFKR rider in it (Travis I think?) We make the turn around the lake and we are doing 40mph with a sweet tailwind. This is where it gets funny. We are doing 35-40mph and guys are attacking! Good idea, I am sure you can ride 45mph and stay away. The break kind of falls apart at the feed zone and soon another is gone with K-Rad again. They get caught and then the move of the day goes, 7 guys go up the road including our Jeff Sargeant, Aaron Jordan(AJ), Todd Hageman, Mark Yap, and Todd Posselli. In other words some pretty good horse power. They dangle about a minute off the front for a long time which is strange because we are not going that hard. They must not be very organized up front. On the back side of the lake going into a head wind I make my move and take Kirk Eck from LRC with me. We were stuck in no mans land for what seemed like forever. I almost sat up since I was getting almost no help. I decided to give it one last push and Kirk agreed to help. We catch the break and I go straight to the front and drive it. I ease up and no one pulls through. WTF? Sarge tells me to save my strength as there are a lot of passengers in the break. I am thinking OK all the big teams are here so the peleton wont have a lot of chasers. We (FFKR) have 2 guys and LRC have 2 guys so at the very least there should be 4 guys ready to work. AJ tells me he is out of water and blown which I believe because he is always a huge motor in the break and has too much pride to sit on. The LRC guys? They have a strict no work policy so no luck there. I can see there are a lot of tired faces and empty water bottles so it is going to be tough. The rest of the guys would pull through when they could but it was a long hot ride with only one feed zone. In about a 3 mile stretch our gap went from 2 to 1 minute. We were almost to the turn into the crosswind section. I knew this group would not last. We make the turn into the crosswind and whoever is in the front puts it in the gutter. Does not accelerate, just puts it in the gutter. Anyway we are going ridiculously slow, so I went for it. Hageman goes with me and we trade some big pulls. Mark Yap (LRC) comes across it is game on. We make it to the tailwind section and I knew the final selection had been made. Hageman and I knew that since the only time Mark had been in the wind all day was when he bridged up to us he would have the freshest legs for the sprint. My legs were cramping so bad I had serious doubts about finishing. We attacked him a few times but he was just too fresh. This one is coming down to a sprint. Hageman leads it out and I get boxed in for just a moment. I am coming around Mark but the line is coming even faster. I threw my bike but he got me. Damn I wish I could sprint. Sarge got 4th so we made some nice $$$ for the team. Today my team was unreal, we were in every move and all the guys rode their hearts out. Sorry I could not close the deal guys. I am really proud to ride with these guys. Being a mountain biker at heart I still have a hard time with the sit on, don’t power the break, then sprint tactic. That is just me. I want to race to win or die trying. Maybe I would win more if I did not race that way but I know if I raced that way and did not win I would feel like a chump. Is it sour grapes on my part because I did not win? Probably. But this is my blog and I can write what I want. I like every single guy on LRC, great group of guys. I congratulate Mark on the win. I think we will just have to agree to disagree on tactics. I hope my good form continues and I look forward to many more battles with you guys.
Looks like I got shined for our ride today so I am out for some easy recovery miles solo. Glad my iPod is charged.
Ride Safe
