The Second Half

That' a Wrap Folks....on the 2007 cycling season

My above listed spons.....ok, well they aren't sponsors because they don't exactly give me their stuff. I have to buy it like everybody else. However, without this gear, I would never have pulled off a solid finish in the Tour of the White Mountains yesterday. 70 racers in our open class event made it even that much sweeter. Pros/Singlespeeders/old guys/women...I love open class racing. No age groups - its just the first one across the line wins goddammit! It was a sunny day, a great, technically challenging course, and as always.....a sufferfest from the word GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The gun went off at 7:15am at Thunderhorse Ranch in Pine Top, AZ. It was a warm enough day - temps in the 50's - but we had sustained winds of 25mph with consistent 40 mph gusts. I looked back just before the start and realized we had a pretty big field. I was in the 3rd row hoping for a top 10 finish.

Right out of the gate, I was 10th - and our lead group picked up a quick 30 second gap on the rest of the field....so I knew it was my job at that point to just not get passed. Only 51 miles to go to the finish line. The first several miles were forest roads designed to separate the field. It worked. I got in a paceline of guys to help cut the wind, and did my share of pulls before dropping two guys and taking a dig for the lead group of 7 - I never did make the bridge up to them, but as soon as I about blew from the effort we turned onto the singletrack for the next 40 miles and I was able to settle into a good pace. The climbing was moderate - 4,500 feet over the 51 miles so it was just a matter of keeping yourself focused.

There was a staggered start - and the 42/35 mile participants started after us, and took a shortcut that got them in front of our group.....meaning that I all of a sudden rode up on what felt like 100 intermediate-level riders, but they were all cool and were willing to let us pass them without issue. It was great psychologically - as I always had someone ahead that I was trying to catch. Well - I blew past the first 3 aid stations and was feeling great until 2:45 minutes into the race when my legs and lungs just seemed to lose their ability to hold the pace I was riding....I had a couple of bars and gels, and kinda limped into aid station #4 - thankfully helped by a long downhill section about 30 minutes after I started feeling the fatigue. 15 miles left, or so we were told. I ate cheese/gatorade/candy and it tasted sooooooooo good........but suddenly not good as I watched a guy in my class zip by the aid station at full throttle.

FUCK! Back on the bike hell bent to catch him. I knew I was close to top 10 and didn't want to lose that standing. I went a little too hard, and ended up having to stop for 30 seconds to work a cramp out of my right hamstring. It went away since I caught it right away and after some suffering for 1/2 hour, I rolled up on him and we rode together on a long stretch of the 7 miles of fire roads to the ranch. I could feel him laboring, so I punched it once and he sat on my wheel. I punched it twice, and gapped him by about 7 seconds. I did one final big-ring push out of the saddle and he disappeared behind me. I kept my effort at close to 85% of max and survived a hellish headwind to the line. 5 hours 15 minutes - good enough for 9th place. I was just psyched! Back in May I raced in a simlar category at the Whiskey 50 and placed a middling 64th out of 100. This was vindication for that race. I left everything I had in my yesterday on the trails and although I didn't get on the podium, it felt great to know I really accomplished something I had been trying to all year: Riding fast for 5-6 hours, having the awareness to not bonk, and having a strong finishing kick. I know I didn't get on the podium, and that would be a monumental achievement for me in Open Class racing. I guess I'll always have something to shoot for, that's for sure.

Go Vikes!