Sunday’s road race - an out and back - started at the top of Sunset Crater and dropped down into Wupatki National Monument and then….right back up. The course profile isn’t severe, but dropping 2,300 feet and then climbing right back up made for a predictable race. Because of the Omnium format, anyone can enter one, two, or all three of the races – and be eligible to win individual events or the overall points category. With that being said, there were some very fresh looking faces that I had not seen at the hillclimb or the criterium so I knew the pace was going to be fast on the climb back up. The only strategy I had on the day was to watch the guy in front of me in total points, and try to beat him to the line. Problem was, I didn’t know who he was. There were no call-ups, and our race numbers weren’t on the results postings. I guess the $65 entry fee was cheap for a reason.
8:04am - Go….notice the lack of explanation mark after the word Go? It was far from a mountain bike race start as we had a neutral roll out for 5 miles since we were passing through park campground roads with trailheads and such. We started going downhill, fast, closing in on 47mph at a couple of points riding in a pack of 40+. I had a guy put his shifter hood in my right butt cheek, but I didn’t panic and he didn’t either so no carnage there. Nobody tried a break on the descent because it was just too fast. I was nearly spun out in my 53x11 the whole way down, so there was no point in trying to get away.
The turnaround surprised me, and unfortunately I was sitting mid-pack when we hit it…..a single orange cone in the middle of a two lane road that forced us to ride single file around it. The first guy through looked at the rest of us in line and said “Bye bye suckers!” I took my turn around the cone and had to burn a half pack of matches just to get back on the ass end of the lead group. Full gas, all out – whatever you call it, and that my friends, was THE break. For the 20 guys that missed it, their race was over, and unfortunately I had two teammates in that second group who ended up crossing the finish line more than 5 minutes back as they slogged up the climb with no organization or really strong guys to pull them along.
So, I made the break but I could tell that it was just a question of how long I could stay on. Surge, sag, surge, sag, all the way across the false flats until we hit some steps and two tough guys started really started turning the screws. I was close to falling off several times, but I managed to hang until the 10K mark where I just could not keep up, and was forced to ride my own race. One teammate, Mark W, was hurting like I was so we dropped off, shared a laugh, recovered, traded pulls for the last six miles, and finished in much better shape than we were in when we were left off the back end of the lead group. Preliminary results said I came in 6th, with Mark W. right behind me in 7th. We don’t have the final Omnium standings yet so I’m not sure where I finished in the overall. Again, the $65 entry fee was cheap for a reason.
That was one of the most enjoyable weekends of racing I have ever had. Racing locally meant I could do friend/family stuff in between races. D hooked me up with key food items and a massage on Saturday night. Lyza got to see the final stage, and I got to clean the house on Sunday afternoon – how was that a bonus? Great courses meant excellent competition. Good results and no injures were the icing on the weekend.
Awesome!
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