Dirty Road Race #3

Well, first let me say that the 'lollipop' section of this course was extra sucky for the third installement of this race series. There was new gravel on portions, and much of the other gravel surfaces had been grated, so they were softer and required much more effort to navigate through.

Things didn't exactly go accordingly to plan for me today, with respect to sticking with the lead group... however, as far as early season training goes, I couldn't have been happier with how this race played out.

Everyone stuck together for the first 12 miles of mostly paved surface. But then, that 'twitchy' feeling became tangible, as the first turn onto the gravel approached. As soon as we hit the gravel, all hell broke lose. Not necessarily because of attacking riders, just simply because racing on gravel is ackward, at best, and creates a bit of chaos.

Of course, this was the first 'move' of the day, as the tempo and heart rates increased. I suffered through for a mile or two, as most of the group was intact, but then began to slip off the back. What? Well this is going to be a long race.

If I could just hang on until the road section (which wasn't for another 13 miles) I would be fine. But, on the other hand, what was going on? Soon, my answer emerged as my rear wheel locked up... it released and I pedalled some more, then locked up again. I looked down to see that my rear wheel had actually come off of the axel. Hilarious. The road was so bumpy that it jarred my wheel right off. (of course, I may be at fault for not being the most meticulous of pre-race mechanics).

Seriously, though, this race was bumpy, my triceps are even sore today from all of the effort needed to grind through those rocks and sand pits.

Well, that sort of put the nail in the coffin, as anytime you have an 'off the bike' mechanical during an attacking section of the race, things aren't looking good. I put the wheel back on, and continued. Ok, now for the training race I was looking for last weekend. Alone, and in chase mode.

Lot's of solo tempo, as I passed riders from time to time. I worked with them for a bit, but ultimately, I was strong, and more interested in seeing how close to the front of the race I could get on my own. This is the ultimate time trial effort and great training for future races.

I passed dominic moraniec, jimmy carrico, the robinson brothers... wait, hmm, I am not going to have that bad of a result after all. Then I passed Tracy Thompson with a flat tire. Ouch, that isn't looking good for the eastern Iowa riders. Skipping ahead, miraculously Tracy battled back up, and even passed me about 7 miles later.

Toward the latter parts of the race, I noticed that the follow car was behind me, and not coming around, and that there was a group of three riders back in my sights. I felt like I could catch them, so I pursued. Could this be the front of the race? Yes it was! Unbelievable.

My determination to catch back on, meant that I never really felt like I had time to feed, so I raced 2hours 40 minutes on 250 calories... Hmm, what does that mean... yes the bonk.

I believe bonking has a good training effect. It teaches your body to adapt to stressful situations. However, riding basically solo for 38 miles, against head winds, sand pits, loose gravel, hills, etc, made for a challenging day. I was exhausted.

Fortunately, only one guy (Rich Wince-Rasmussen's Death Squad) was close enough to take advantage of my energy deficit, as he passed me with about 2 miles to go.

-Dirty Road Race #3 Results-
I ended up in 6th place overall and the 2nd of 6 cat 3 riders. Put a big 'X' on category 3 rider Jerome Rewerts' back, as he won the event, and actually had about a 2 minute gap on teammates Lane Anderson and Chad Vandelune. If that isn't a sign of a strong rider, I don't know what is, as this was a tough race, and he beat out some good cat 1/2 riders as well as fellow cat 3's. Not sure how, but Tracy Thompson of Bikes 2 You ended up finishing second, which speaks volumes about his fitness and racing determination.

This event really felt like a cyclocross race. Remind me to find some gravel roads to train on this fall, as it would make great training for cyclocross.

Having said that, thankfully, the rest of the race season is on the road. I have lots of momentum this season, that will make me a force to be wreckened with, especially within the Cat 3 field. Kent Park is next week, and is the unofficial start of the 2009 Road Racing Season... Bring it On.