2009 Iowa State Road Race Recap

Another great State Road Race champs is in the books (Results). I didn't quite have the strength at a key point in the race to make it into the top five, but I can also credit some highly trained fellow cat 3's for making this an extremely difficult endeavor.

46 Cat 1/2/3's (25 Cat 1/2's, 21 Cat 3's)lined up in West Branch to start the 108 mile race. I had learned a lot from last year's race, and had put in a few longer training rides in hopes of avoiding the late race cramping that seems inevitable within a 4.5 hour race. I also had a very over thought out approach to the feedzones.

The first of 4, 27 mile laps was somewhat neutralized with an average of around 24 mph. I don't think anybody was interested in working in a break for 4 hours, so nothing major transpired.

Later in the race, a break that seemed to have all of the key teams did form, and stayed away for quite some time. I didn't think there were any Cat 3's in it, however, so I didn't concern myself much, rather tried to conserve energy that I knew would be needed later.

Heading into the third lap, the break started to dissolve. As Bikes To You/Bike World Rider, Bryan Moritz came back to the group, I heard someone say, 'that's a good sign', implying that the break would ultimately get pulled back.

This third lap was a bit faster, I believe, as there were still riders up ahead. Bikes2You, for example could be seen at the front off and on working hard, as they were no longer represented up the road. Unfortunately, towards the end of this lap was also when the remaining riders were starting to get a bit sketchy, having road over 75 miles. An acceleration caused a delayed reaction in the pack, and I could see Garrett McAllister, Wheaton Franciscan, and Brent Mitchell, Rasmussen's, go down... hard. I had to veer off to the right and ride over the curb. I witnessed Brent screaming in agony... it wasn't a pleasant sight.

By the time I got re-positioned on the road the pack was way up ahead. I got a bit angry about that, fearing that my race was about to be over. I unloaded a full on chase, and thankfully caught back on as they sat up about a mile down the road.

I went to the front to get to the feed zone first allowing me ample time to slow down and take two hand-ups. I felt really good about my chances in the race at this point. Unlike last year, the riders seemed to let up a bit to allow everyone a chance to get a hand-up and regroup. Much improved situation, my compliments to the field.

I guess I was a little too confident, because as we turned right, heading out of West Branch to start the last lap, a huge attack transpired. This was the crosswind section, so perfect timing to make a 'selection'. Riders that were toward the front were in perfect position to hang on, however anyone mid-pack or further was going to have to earn their position in this break.

The field cut in half with me ending up in the middle. Some guys had the strength to power around me to catch the split, and others fell back into the chase group. Ultimately, I kept pedalling hard and formed a group between the lead group and the chase group that included Geoff Perril, Tracy Thompson, Will Greenwood, Daniel Galles and Clark Priebe (who had fallen back after being in that first break).

We were hoping to fend off the surviving riders behind us, and possibly catch back up to the front group that now contained about 15 riders. 5 of those riders ended up being Cat 3's, so Geoff, Dan and myself were currently only racing for 6th place, just out of the money.

The fourth lap of this race is always challenging. The cramping starts to set in a bit, and rider's overall fitness and/or efforts made earlier in the race start to become a factor. At one point Tracy let out an unexpected shout... cramps. He dropped back a bit, leaving Dan, Geoff, Clark and me still rotating through (Will had to drop back a bit earlier).

Clark dropped back about 10 miles later leaving Dan, Geoff and me (all cat 3's). I had begun to have some cramps a few miles earlier, so was hoping that the others were in pain as well. Unfortunately, near the end of the race, on one of the steepest climbs, Geoff's pace pushed my legs over the limt, causing a cramp that forced me to slow a bit. After I got over the hill, I was fine the rest of the race, and kept Dan and Geoff in my sights, but could never make up any ground as they worked together to insure I wouldn't complicate their finish. We didn't know for sure how many Cat 3's were ahead of us, so I understand why they didn't let me catch back on.

The last stretch was a headwind. As I saw my odometer read 106 miles, I was eagerly awaiting this ride to be over. There wasn't anyone within sight behind me, as I rolled across the line. I was 8th out of 10 cat 3 finishers (21 started) and 18th out of the 28 finishers within our Cat 1,2,3 field (46 Started).

Great race, everything basically went according to plan, I just wasn't quite strong enough to hang onto that 4th lap split. Congratulations to those who did (not to mention those who finished, and even those who had the courage to start a 108 mile road race). I am already thinking about how I might be able to squeeze out just a bit better result next year.

The three medal winners for the cat 3 race have been riding strong all year (Jerome Rewerts, David Paquette and Carson Christen) so it was very fitting that they earned top finishes. Also, Jeff Bradley, Trek, Davenport, IA (former Tour De France particpant) winning the race overall seemed appropriate and added to the honor of being a part of this great race of strong Iowa competitors.

Thanks to my Mom and Joe Mann for feed zone support.