Burlington Racing

Racing the 2011 Snake Alley Criterium Master's 30+

BURLINGTON ROAD RACE

I entered the 102 mile Pro 1,2 road race on Friday along with 5 other teammates from American Equity. I had no idea what to expect, but was really relaxed about the whole thing because I didn't set any goal for myself other than to finish with the group.  The race was basically flat, and historically ends up being all about the sprint at the end.  I was just excited to be lining up in this event, and happy to be about to enjoy a new experience.

We decided to work towards getting Jeff Bradley to the line as fresh as possible.  The race rolled out casual and I quickly began to enjoy the situation.  Two words... ROLLING ENCLOSURE.  Wow, this was an awesome race amenity.  We had the whole road to ourselves, much like the Pro Tour races I watch on TV.  The races I have done with the center line rule in place are so much more tense, whereas with this situation you could ride basically wherever you wanted at any time.

Ok, since I could go anywhere I wanted... I did. I didn't have anything to lose, so actually went on the attack several times.  It was fun to be ahead of the field and get a time gap from the motoref. You never know, maybe this would be the break that the field 'lets go'.  I got in a break that seemed promising at one point... about 8 guys.  Must not have been the right 8 guys, as the field eventually caught up.  I was oddly exhilarated by the fact that a good portion of this race was occuring on roads I do with the Tuesday night group from Muscatine... sort of a home court advantage.  Of course, things feel a lot differently in a field of 80+ Cat 1,2's.

I decided to chill out for a bit.  It was raining most of the event. Then Jeff Bradley's hand went in the air... oh crap is he flatting?  Nope...it was time to go to work.  TJ Tollakson let me know the situation, and I rushed to the front to rotate through with the ISCorp guys and the rest of our team.  This was  such welcomed news... I finally had something to do. 

We got a good tempo going as the gap started to come down.   After awhile, other teams got in the rotation and/or began attacking.  This ultimately caused the two-team chase to dissolve.  Unfotunately, there were a few points when the field was all panned out, waiting for someone else to do the work.  If we would have stayed the course, we would have caught the 4 man break, which ended up being only 30 seconds ahead of us by the finish.

Jeff was in good position to attest the field sprint, and he delivered a great effort.  The team felt good about the day, and earned some respect from the field.  My efforts to get in a break and then rotate through at the front did leave my legs a bit wasted, so I merely rolled through at the end, trying to stay out of the way and trouble.

Why enter a race you aren't really expecting to get favorable personal result at?  Why not?  I could have went to the movies, a party, out to dinner, read a book,  etc... You don't win anything by spending your time that way either... It is all about chosing positive ways to spend your time, and I can say that I spent my Friday afternoon in a very rewarding fashion. 

SNAKE ALLEY SLIPPIN

The rain drops held off as I did a couple of warm-up laps of the course.  I noted that my legs were a little more sore than I would have hoped and that I was being more sketchy on the downhill corners than desirable... Oh well, it will be fine.

The rain started as I lined up for the Masters 30+ event with about 23 other guys.. really?  I didn't think much of it because I felt good about my abilities on this course based on my success last year.  I darted off with an agressive start... well, unfortunately Brian Eppen had lined up, and he was totally sprinting out of the gates to get the 'hole shot' up the snake.  This shook me up a bit.

As we started up the snake I stood up to unleash the power within:).   My back wheel slipped from the wet conditions.   Ok, I sat down and then tried again a few pedal strokes later.  Oh no... am I going to have to sit the whole time to keep the weight/traction on my back tire?

By the time I got up the snake I looked down the road to see Brian Eppen almost around the first corner.  Very demoralizing... the race was split apart and we have only been racing about 2 minutes.  It got worse for me (and others like me). Steve Tilford describes the descent as 'fast and technical', so I don't mind suggesting that you can lose time on the downhill part of the course if you aren't willing to take some chances and/or have great technical confidence.  Well, the wet conditions made things even more 'technical'.

I kept trying to stand each time up the snake, but would slip out each time.  I knew that if ever lost my balance, I would have to run up the snake so I just tried to keep it together.  Man was I going slow.  Usually I am gasping for air by the time I reach the top of the course... not is year, the slippery cobbles were robbing all my effort.  

With about 4 laps in I lost my interest in the event.  Without the ability to use the uphill climb as a way to gain time on the field, I was severely handicapped.  Really?  8 more laps of this.  I had family cheering me on, so I persevered, but I was becoming embarrassed, maybe that was the wrong feeling, but I was still feeling it.

Somehow I ended up in 10th place... as bad as I felt I was performing, I guess others were having a similar experience..  I couldn't find any motivation to pedal hard, a very odd feeling.  I nearly got lapped by Eppen, yet was able to lap a couple of other guys.  Everybody simply had a different approach to how handling a wet 'snake alley' course. 

I finished feeling like this would be a sort of rest day.  I guess it was good to have been able to save my legs for Sunday, but I didn't do this intentionally.