And my Veloce buddy DQ would be making the trip up with his new gal, so I'd have a teammate again.
Michael Black pulled up just a few hours late in his pimpin ride, VW wagon, and the 3 of us loaded everything that would fit... 4 bikes up top, Kian and Annie in the back with bags between their legs, and about 15 wheelsets. We actually couldn't fit a few things, but I forget what now that we'd been forced to leave behind. Didn't matter.
Stayed at the cabin this year, no Tortuga, since some friends of ours were getting married at Mountain Springs Resort just a few miles away and if I hustled, I could make the races AND the reception. It all worked out and Emily and Jason had a splendid wedding (I'm told) and a fabulous reception.
The TT went reasonably well. I felt like I was digging deep and had a mostly solid ride. Two super strong time-trialers beat me which didn't surprise me, so I was third but by only 6 seconds over Dan. We are always pretty close: one year he pipped me by a second in Wenatchee, but last year I took a lot out of him since he was my 30-second man.
The Crit, from a team standpoint, went well as 10-minutes into the race DQ got off in the winning move and took 2-primes. I was a bit frustrated having to cover and behave myself, but the biggest frustration was finding out afterwards that the TT winner was in that break. What? No one knew who this guy was and we all let him ride away. Also, as I was about to take the field sprint I pulled out of my pedal and almost killed myself by slamming into a barrier, but I had enough momentum that I still managed to roll across the line in 5th with one leg out of the pedal, coasting. Those were precious points, as it would turn out the next day. Also key, was that TG was pipped at the line for 3rd, which meant that he didn't gain too many points on me.
The RR was mine, I wanted it, and on the 2nd of 4 laps I attacked. I knew that I would attack on the lap but was unsure exactly when, but even so I surprised myself when I lept out from the group. And as usual it hurts worse than you expect and you almost instantly regret the move, and the feeling that you get when you leave the confines of the peleton is like you've dropped off a ledge and your dangling there, about to fall. I looked back after a few minutes and I was already 400-500 meters clear of the group. At that moment I had rounded one of the steepest sections of the course and the road doubled back on itself so I was looking straight down on them below. Only one other person was clear of the group, so they were reacting, and the main group was obviously in disarray as it was splintered, probably dudes trying to respond to this other attacker. I kept on but settled in and waited to see if this lone gunman was still solo, because with two more laps remaining I could use a conspirator. The next time I checked the rider was clear and was broadening his gap on the group so I took the opportunity to ease a bit and recover some before we joined forces. Turned out it was the winner of the TT and the crit, a super strong Cat 1, recently turned Masters rider (turned 35 yo), and so I was in good company. Without a word we fell into taking pulls and we crushed it! Also without words I took the KOM, he let me have it, because on the leadup I surged hard and looked back, and since he didn't respond it was mine to have, he wouldn't contend me for it, so in order to save time and work together, I fell back to working with him until just before we crossed the line when I made sure that I was on the front. Besides, I'd already taken the previous KOMs so it was mine for the taking -- he was more interested in the race outcome than he was the KOM. Then we topped out and began the steep descent back to the bottom so we could do it again, 2 more times.
So, now strategy came into play and I wondered what was going to happen. The options: 1) we would work together for one more lap then we'd fight it out for the final lap to see who was strongest. 2) as it was, he had the overall sealed up and so he would rather share the load with me and duke it out in the sprint for the stage win. Well, turns out there were a lot more options at play on this day and we actually talked about them, which isn't always the case in races like this. One of the many variables was that a local Seattle rider who is known as being a jerk and is generally despised in the peleton, lets call him TG, who was sitting in 2nd on GC and was a serious contender, said something stupid to my break companion, as he is wont to do, that pissed him off and so he was motivated to drop TG and teach him a lesson. Turns out we really did.
The day was a scorcher, in the 90's or maybe even 100+, and everyone felt the heat. We sure did. We hammered the descent and straightaway section across the bottom of the course but once we hit the climb we settled in and chatted almost the entire 4-5 mile climb, sharing stories and food. We didn't say anything to each other about our condition because we still expected to become mortal enemies on the last go up the climb, but later we confided to each other that we were both suffering from near cramping and leg spasms. The last thing you want to do is let your combatant know of a weakness because its sure to be exploited. I was constantly sizing him up for any weakness that I could attack, but found none, and he said the same about me although I know that I was hurting and my legs were on the brink of serious cramping. Anyway, we also had info coming from the lead support car that TG was in no-mans-land between us and the next chasers and we were easily holding a 3-4 minute lead, so why hurt ourselves further. Again, we worked hard on the descents and straightaways knowing thats where we'd solidify our advantage and then we eased up the climb. In fact, eventually my guy told be about TGand said that I could take the stage win if we worked together on the day: done deal! I couldn't think of a better scenario. The win for me on the day meant that I would move ahead of TG on GC to 2nd and he would slip to 3rd, and my new friend (who's name I forget) would still take the overall win. Now that's bike racing!
And TG must have really suffered out there all alone in the heat trying to catch us and stay away from his chasers. Thank god I had it so easy because I might have exploded had I been forced to continue attacking in that heat.
Great weekend. Thanks MB, thanks DQ, for the great times. You too AF and KCR.
So, now strategy came into play and I wondered what was going to happen. The options: 1) we would work together for one more lap then we'd fight it out for the final lap to see who was strongest. 2) as it was, he had the overall sealed up and so he would rather share the load with me and duke it out in the sprint for the stage win. Well, turns out there were a lot more options at play on this day and we actually talked about them, which isn't always the case in races like this. One of the many variables was that a local Seattle rider who is known as being a jerk and is generally despised in the peleton, lets call him TG, who was sitting in 2nd on GC and was a serious contender, said something stupid to my break companion, as he is wont to do, that pissed him off and so he was motivated to drop TG and teach him a lesson. Turns out we really did.
The day was a scorcher, in the 90's or maybe even 100+, and everyone felt the heat. We sure did. We hammered the descent and straightaway section across the bottom of the course but once we hit the climb we settled in and chatted almost the entire 4-5 mile climb, sharing stories and food. We didn't say anything to each other about our condition because we still expected to become mortal enemies on the last go up the climb, but later we confided to each other that we were both suffering from near cramping and leg spasms. The last thing you want to do is let your combatant know of a weakness because its sure to be exploited. I was constantly sizing him up for any weakness that I could attack, but found none, and he said the same about me although I know that I was hurting and my legs were on the brink of serious cramping. Anyway, we also had info coming from the lead support car that TG was in no-mans-land between us and the next chasers and we were easily holding a 3-4 minute lead, so why hurt ourselves further. Again, we worked hard on the descents and straightaways knowing thats where we'd solidify our advantage and then we eased up the climb. In fact, eventually my guy told be about TGand said that I could take the stage win if we worked together on the day: done deal! I couldn't think of a better scenario. The win for me on the day meant that I would move ahead of TG on GC to 2nd and he would slip to 3rd, and my new friend (who's name I forget) would still take the overall win. Now that's bike racing!
And TG must have really suffered out there all alone in the heat trying to catch us and stay away from his chasers. Thank god I had it so easy because I might have exploded had I been forced to continue attacking in that heat.
Great weekend. Thanks MB, thanks DQ, for the great times. You too AF and KCR.
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