Blue Mounds Race of the Future Report

Thursday Morning I attended the first race of the Tour of America's Dairyland event in Wisconsin. This road race was presented on the proposed road race course for the 2016 Olympics. The description from the website:

The 22-mile loop offers three considerable climbs totaling up to 2,200 feet per lap with an additional finishing mile stretch that averages a grade of eight percent.

They weren't kidding about that 'additional finishing mile stretch', it was indeed quite an 'offering' that played a key factor in the race, making the final climb about 2.5 miles.

On arrival, it was exciting to see a good turnout, and pro-style finishing stretch. I was lucky enough to get to park right next to the Trek/Livestrong development team. I have the exact same bike they use, so I did have to make sure I got on the right bike as I warmed up. I also appreciated seeing Steve Tilford strolling around, as well as Team Bissell, Team Type 1, Kelly Benefits, Gear Grinder, and some pro-women teams.

The start/finish is atop the Blue Mound State Park. I guess this 'blue mound' is about the closest thing to a mountain I will ever see in my racing career. I enetered the Cat 3 race, which entailed 2 laps totalling 44 miles. The turnout was probably just a bit over 50 riders, which was probably good for a Thursday morning event.

We started rolling down the 'mound' at about 9am. There were a couple of short climbs, but otherwise the first 7 or 8 miles were all spent descending. It didn't take long to figure out that we eventually were going to have to climb back up at some point, but when?

The largest hill comes at the very end of the loop, so the first real split occured as we went over it the first time. There was a small sort of group that managed to stay together over the climb, but most everyone else was getting strung out. I had no idea when the climb was going to end, but thankful as we crested. I did have a little ground to catch up, but working with another rider, I was back on with the field for lap number 2.

Lots of descending/recovering for the group, but during one of the middle climbs another split occured. I lost contact again just for a bit, and when I rejoined was happy to see that there were only 11 of us left in this race that paid back 10 spots.

Unfortunately, no one really had much motivation to make this gap stick, as it was pretty obvious that the finishing climb that loomed in our future would be steep enough to shake things out accordingly, so some of the racers caught back on.

I was pretty apprehensive about climbing that hill again, as the first time around was an all out effort to hang on. Fortunately, I was feeling confident that I could place somewhere in the top 10, based on the effect the inclines were having on the group up to this point and the ever dwindling field.

THE MOUND
It finally came at about 42 miles into our race. My guess is that there were about 20 Cat 3's who entered the final climb together. Everyone seemed to be basically riding their 39x25 gearing to the max that their fitness would allow. About half way into the climb gaps were opening up all over the place. I quickly counted to see how many were up ahead of me, and realized I was still racing for about 9th place.

I ended up in a sort of chase group of 3 with a comfortable advantage on the rest of the remaining field. That meant that if I didn't hang on to these two, I would slip out of the top ten, and go home empty handed. We rounded the last 'added bonus incline' up to the finish. The lead group was in sight as it began shattering, but we were really just trying to make it to the top without cracking.

I inadvertantly attacked my chase group when I saw some orange cones (wishfully thinking that was the finishing area). One of the guys couldn't hang on but Garret McAllister of Wheaton/Franciscan was still there. He started to weaken and I was able to gap him, meaning I was in 9th place with the last 200 meters in sight.

I set my sights on maybe advancing another place as I saw another Wheaton/Franciscan rider within reach, but it wasn't meant to be. In fact, the featherweight (maybe 130pounds) rider I had earlier gapped overtook me at the end so I ended up in 10th overall. Paquette of Wheaton/Franciscan won our race in which 28 (about half the field) posted a finishing result.

Steve Tilford's blog has good information about the Pro/1/2 race, and I believe Amanda Miller won the Women's Pro 1/2/3 race. Check the results to see how everyone did.

If that ends up being the 2016 Olympic Road Race course, Fabian Cancellara won't be as successful due to the fact that the mile finishing incline will be a launching pad for the pure climbers.

I went back to Iowa after that race, as I am planning on doing some small Iowa races and then go back up to 'the tour' for Tuesdays Road Race in Fon DuLac. Quite a few riders are competing in the omnium (racing all 10 days). Tracy Thompson of Bikes 2 You , for example, is racing the entire week. Unfortunately, he got a flat tire in his race.