| Comments: | Three years ago ByrneInvent was one of the dominant masters road racing teams in the NW, not anymore. Although we still have some good riders that are able to race masters on the road, they are also category 3 and so are opting to race with other 3s in the category events this year. I knew it would be a lonely day but I couldn't help smiling when I pulled up to the start and there was Matt H, Brian G, Bob W and Paul from Excel and me...
On the upside it makes tactics a no-brainer. I figured Excel would just keep sending people up the road and all I had to do was go with all the moves. :| Sure enough, about 50' past the neutral start Paul speeds up and Matt, who was behind him, slows down.
I had positioned myself in the top 10 (our field was about 35 riders, at least half of which were women) and by the time I found an opening Paul had about a 100' gap. I jumped fairly hard but by the time I had closed in on Paul, Matt had closed in on me so it was all together again.
Within 100 m of the catch Bob W took off. For a second I thought that some of the women were going to chase (they all seemed eager to ride at the front) but it was not to be. This time Bob had about 100 m on the field before I went and this time I went harder and tried to go when the other Excel riders were behind other people in an effort to get away clean. It almost worked, I forgot to look behind me when I jumped and Paul must have been there because he was Johnny-on-the-spot and had my wheel right away.
I bridged most of the gap, let Paul take a turn and then we had Bob. For a bit our gap was not big at all and once the bunch even got really close but then it suddenly ballooned. I found out from Matt that he was pulling like mad and then when he got close realized what he was doing and sat up. Of course everyone sat up right behind him instead of jumping across. :) So within two miles of the start we were gone.
We worked really well together with everyone doing their share and it was not a slow pace. It's a good thing I rode this as race pace was feeling rather fast to me and the longer you put off this sort of thing the harder it is when you finally do start. Lap one felt awful. I legs were not warmed up, I was breathing really hard and today was just my second day on my race bike with a new position - the first being a 9 mile flat TT a week ago.
During the 2nd and 3rd lap I felt better although towards the end of the 3rd I suspected it was going to pretty hard for me to finish with these guys. With two laps to go David D told us we had three minutes on the field. During the 3rd and 4th lap there were times when I pulled that Bob simply came around me because I was going too slow rather than wait for me to pull off so I could tell the end was near.
With one lap to go David D told us the gap was 'huge' and I was just barely hanging on. Thoughts of tailing off had crossed my mind so many times and once I had even tried to skip my pull but Bob was all over that and simply stayed behind me letting a gap open up so I had to really dig to reach Paul again.
Those guys obviously sensed that I was losing it and so when we hit the highway for the last time Paul did not wait long and suddenly accelerated. I was basically on his wheel and there was still nothing I could do. A gap opened up. Bob was behind me and when Paul had about 50 or 100 feet he jumped around me and bridged. Then I got to watch these two ride away into the distance.
Ouch... not only had my legs exploded but my back was shot too. I had been in the drops or on the hoods bent way over all day to try and get out of the wind and now the first thing I did when the slope and wind allowed was to sit up, straighten my spine and savor the respite. I had to do this two more times in the last lap. Once I almost got tossed off the road because I chose a rather windy section.
Those guys left me pretty early in the last lap so I had about nine or ten miles to go solo. In that distance Bob and Paul put four minutes into me. But hey, I still finished about two or three minutes ahead of field. Brian G managed to get away with half a lap to go and soloed in for 4th and then Matt H won the 'pack' sprint for 5th. I was the lonely spot of orange on that podium. :) The next five people across the line were women; where are all the masters...?
ASIDE - two laps into the race we passed the cat 3 field. There were probably four(?) ByrneInvent riders in here and they all cheered me on like mad! It was really nice. They eventually passed us back.
The tap on my right drop came undone and was flapping in the wind for the last three laps. :( I have that new, gel FSA tape which is fantastic when you like to ride with no gloves like I do in the summer but the backing is just this strip of gel padding and not the usual sticky stuff so it got pulled loose by my gloves. I was constantly trying to wrap it back on the bar and once Bob said, "Don't you dare try to yank that off while we're riding...!" You got it Bob.
I was pretty much destroyed after this ride. I had all the usual post-effort symptoms of turbulent guts, slight cough, etc.and it took my body several hours to calm down. Like four.
I drove around the south end to get here and on the way home this seemed like a monumental task so when I saw the sign to Bremerton I made a beeline to the ferry. What a good decision! No toll to pay, no numbing time behind the wheel, I got to nap in line and it was only 20 miles of driving going this way! All the way around is like 80. I'm never driving around again. |
| Equipment: | Ti Cycles Hyak, 39/53, 12-25, Zipp 404 wheels
Like I said, compared to last year I flipped my stem upside down so the bars are about 3 cm higher and 1 cm closer, it seems like a good thing. Today was my first road ride in this position on this bike. It was also my first time with 'standard' gearing after riding a compact setup for the last two years... I really missed the 18 cog today. |