Iowa State Road Race ReCap...Ouch.

WE CAME, WE SAW, WE CRAMPED....

I have always respected what it means to be a Cat 1/2 racer, but after Saturday's race, I can say I got a chance to see first hand that these guys don't mess around. It was so great to be able to be in the 'main event' and finish. 108 miles, feed zones, team tactics... closest thing to the to the Tour that I will ever get a chance to enter in.

Oops, I am from Muscatine, population, 22, 500, when I raise my hand, the team car doesn't come up and give me water. I am happy to say, though, that Harper's Racing Team, got two medals on Saturday. I pulled off a Silver Medal in the Cat 3 Race and Bill Ford got Bronze in the Master's Race. (apologies, he is from Ill. so no medal, but it was the thought that counts.).

4 laps, 27 miles each.
First lap... ah yeah, this is awesome. 'Hey, how is going, nice blog'. 'Yah, only 4 more hours'. of note, my speedometer wasn't working, thank god, knowing how many miles were left would have been devasting.

"It feels like I am 'chasing life'. A quote from Tracy Thompson early on as he was in ear shot of me.
CHASE = My Son
LIFE = The Finish Line/Peloton

Sort of a mystical moment, thinking about the concept of chasing life. Riding through the fields of Iowa, being healthy enough, not only to live, but compete at this elite level and really enjoying just being ALIVE. (reminder, this is still the first lap, I hadn't hopped aboard the pain train yet).

Feed Zone... I was new to this, very odd. Bill Ford's wife, handing me a bottle for the first two laps. Those who didn't take on water, kept on peddaling through. We had to unload tons of energy to catch back on. Strong teams were taking advantage of this by designating riders to get the supplies, saving their captains.

Third Lap... team support... non-existent, Bill's wife had to leave. Thankfully, I had befriended the ICCC feed zone coordinator and he gave me a bottle of water, he was a good guy, add him to the list of people who helped me finish this thing. One bottle... I was already cramping and still had 54 miles left. This is going to be interesting.

Backtrack... Carson, fellow blogger. He gives readers reports of every race he enters, so we are able to track his form... As a Cat 3, we knew he had the ammo to pull of a great race... Flat tire.
Not sure what the point of having a follow truck is, because the group left him far behind, and his team mates (HBA) made the decision to upgrade Ian and Chris.

Who does Carson run into at some point, Bryan Moritz, who had a 'feed zone malfuntion' (unfortunately, Janet Jackson wasn't there). My two race favorites were out. I really was just trying to finish this thing, so oddly, I wasn't happy when I saw them abandon. Maybe if the 'Cat 3's' were on a team against the Cat 1/2's, they were the guys who had the best chance of placing high.

On the other hand, that's racing, it could have been me, it wasn't. Being 'marked' is a sign of respect, but it can also be a curse.

Will Greenwood, 15 mile solo flyer, was a Cat 3 going to steal the show again? No, but preserving the expectation, that B2U, was going to 'animate' the race. Also, of note, because he used all of the energy that he would have later needed to medal in the Cat 3 race. (get to that in a minute)

Finish line feed zone... crap. I started thinking about forming a new team 'double h racing'. Harpers and Hall, both trek dealers. I only mention this because I was becoming severely dehydrated, and trying to figure out how I could avoid this in the future.

Tim Campbell was there cheering me on, so was Scott Robinson of of All Nine Yards. Awesome, thanks guys... oh even better, you guys aren't up ahead of me... ok I will pass 'the point of no return' and take a stab at finishing this thing.

Why wasn't I with the main field... Cat 1/2 racing tactics. Some great riders, lined up knowing that they were going to post a DNF, because their job was to shed the weak, and protect their captains... Incredible to watch, demoralizing to endure.

The first part of this last lap, I enjoyed watching some big name Cat 1/2's as they pedalled back to West Branch... their work was done.

One bottle of water, no food, just keep pedalling.

THE CAMEL.
Lee Ventreicher, of B2u, was in the chase group that formed in this last lap. He was sporting a 'camel back' hydration system. Seemed like too much extra weight at the start of the race, seemed like the greatest racing tactic now that I was 81 miles in, and down to almost zero H20.

A chase group formed, 3 B2U guys, Andrew Fagersten, Will Greenwood, Lee. Also, surviving Ian Robinson, and a guy from Nebraska. We didn't know how many Cat 3's were up ahead, but doing some calculating, we figured there might still be some medals left. All right, 27 miles to go, the race is on...

Severe cramping, off and on... the good thing is that everyone else was too, and the cramps subsided from time to time. I didn't tell the group how bad I felt, or how severe my cramping was, but now that the race is over, I can say I was hanging on by a thread.

Lee's mission now was to help Will and Andrew possibly medal in the Cat three race, so he did a lot of pulling. With no water or food, I was waiting for the Cedar Bluffs feed zone... Only problem, I didn't have any support there. Ok, time to start bargaining. I asked Ian R. for a bottle at the stop and he complied, he took two blue electrolyte drinks and I got a bottle. It wouldn't have made sense for B2U to hand me water so I didn't bother trying, this feed zone was a decisive factor. I tried to get a bottle from the third guy there but he pulled it back. Sort of rude, there were only a few guys still standing behind our group, hook me up. I suppose maybe he wouldn't have known that, though.

Will and Lee had pulled off at this point. Brent Mitchell pulled off to the side grabbing his hamstring in agony. Cramping so bad he had to stop. I felt his pain. He finished though, good job.

So the Cat 3 race came down to 'the last man standing'. Andrew, Ian, Nebraska guy, and myself, all Cat 3's, with two medals on the line.

DEHYDRATION... Every bottle on the side of the road represented a chance to rehydrate, but they were mirages, and of course they would have been empty. Jealous that these guys had fluid. Hey, that was a part of the race.

Andrew of B2U called it and gave me some good advice, as I was starting to swerve and over react. They were hurting too. We were crawling up the hills.

THE HAND-UP

Andrew offered me some of his bottle. I drank that down like it was ambrosia. I handed it back, not wanting to take too much, and he told me to drink some more... Thank you. The honor in this gesture was that he could have just watched me sputter out and die, insuring a medal.

We exchanged pulls, not to chase the field but to finish. Ian wasn't quite as strong, maybe a tactic, not sure.

What is that the finish line? Andrew leads it out, trying to perhaps get a gap at the 1km mark. Amazingly, I am not cramping, so just race smart and follow his wheel with Ian and Nebraska guy in tow.

500km, let's give it a go. A gap, some cramps, the crowd cheers... NOT... the main race was sort of over. A quick look behind, zip up the jersey and pose for the cameras. Ian grabs the bronze. In a perfect scenario Andrew would have gotten it because he pulled more, and the guy from Nebraska acknowledged we were gunning for the 'podium' so I believe he relented a bit.

I finished 18th (I think) out of about 24 finishers and 40 something starters.

This was a great race, the organizers used their cycling background to offer this 'epic' ride. 81 miles would have been more suiting for the cat 3's, but ultimately having the larger field was much better, just painful as the 'selection' was made.

Any comments about how the race went from other perspectives, would be fun. Later.