2013 Olympic View Road Race

The race starts down in Brady, WA, viewing distance from the old Satsop nuke site.  When we were about 15 minutes away I got a text from my wife asking if I'd forgotten anything.  "No", I replied and wondered what was up.  Then I got this photo on the left.  Mutha F$#k*r!! 



I don't think I've ever left my numbers or jersey at home before.  I'm glad she let me know or I would have ripped the whole car apart looking for it.   After plenty of ribbing from my teammate Mark found a spare jersey in his bag for me to use.  I wear a medium and if you know Mark you know my noodle arms would not do this thing justice.  Dave, always thinking of his teammates even crafted me a nice new number for me to use.  The officials got a laugh out of it but told me to run in and grab a rental.  Damn, I missed the Cat 5 race.

I stepped out of the car with my baggy jersey and yellow rental wondering what else could possibly go wrong..........Then it started to rain.....and the wind picked up.  I jumped back into the car and grabbed more gear.  I didn't come back out until it was time for us to stage.  I figured I'd have plenty of time to warm up during a 90 miles race.....Right? 

Lang, Joe, Zach and I rolled to line for the start of the Pro/1/2 race.  HSP, Audi and Bikesale were all well represented.  The course an 18 mile loop that is mainly flat with a few rollers.  There is on short kicker not far from the finish that lead to a gnarly little hairpin downhill about 2k from the finish that can get really fun when wet.  Oh yeah, it's wet!!  Here we go.

We rolled out neutral and pretty much as soon as we were let go there was an attack.  I think there were eight in this initial group.  It three from HSP, two from Bikesale, one from Apex, one from Olypic Ortho and two from Garage(Lang and Joe).  It was a good mix from all the big teams with the notable exception of Audi.   There were several counter attacks and I jumped on one that got a small gap. I figured with all the HSP guys up there Lang and Joe could use some help.  We were brought back and I went with one more unsuccessful attack.  Mind you, this is all happening during the first couple of miles.  I'm not sure when it happened but at one point Dave and Brian form HSP along with Ian from HB jumped and got a gap.  I wanted to jump with them but I really didn't think Audi would let them get too far, but........They started to disappear up the road and  pretty soon Audi did get all their guys to the front and started to put in a big effort.  Sweet, Zach and I just sat in and enjoyed the ride.  The gap wasn't that big and I really thought since we still had 80 something miles to go that they would eventually get pulled back.. No one else from teams not represented in the break really came up to help the Audi guys.  They were doing all the work for the next three laps.  I think they got the gap down to around two minutes at one point but that was it.  I think on lap 4 a few guys did come up and help some.

 It had been wet and a little cold the whole race and when we got near the end of lap 4 kind of hoping everyone would do a group "let's bag this thing" and pull into the lot.  A bunch of guys did but a few attacked through the finish so I decided to stay for the fun.  

Our last lap was pretty nuts.  There were constant attacks by HSP and a few others.  After 80+ miles of racing I was still feeling good and I was NOT about to let a 2nd break get up the road.  Zach and I both jumped responded to everything.  There were a few times when I thought we'd get away but by the time we reached the final kicker we were all together.  All I knew was that I wanted to be at the front when we reached the downhill section so I could pick my own line at my own pace.  I think it was Will(HSP) who jumped first and I was the first to jump on.  When we reached the false flat I looked back and I think I was in a group of about seven.  We hit the gas and pushed as hard a we could.  We reached the downhill and I was sitting 2nd wheel.  We made it through the hairpin with no issues. but just as we were coming out of it Will lost traction and went down.  SHIIIIIIIT!!  Lucky for me the wet pavement caused him to slide and I avoided hitting him.  I came into the homestretch sitting 1st wheel.  Oh, don't get too excited.  Need I remind you that this was for 11th place.  I put my head down and started to drive.  The wind was in our faces and I finally let someone else come to the front.  I think it was Tony(Bikesale) that put it in overdrive to make sure rest of the pack didn't catch us.  At the fake 200m mark it was game on and I was just edged out by Lonny(Novo Nordisk) and Rich(HB) and ended up 13th.....How exciting!!

Ten guys finished in front of us with Dustin(HSP) taking the win.  Ian(HB) was just 3 seconds back followed by Lang.  Then the gaps went all the way up to 2:50.  It must have been crazy.  Joe ended up 7th and I was super happy with our teams effort.

 

 

2012 Olympic View Road Race

This is only the third year for this race.  It is not a super tough course.  There are a couple of short power climbs and a crazy little downhill section with a hairpin turn about 2K from the finish.  Other than that is is mainly flat.  Erik throws in some mileage to incorporate more of a suffer factor.  I had planned on racing in the 1/2 field since it was the senior road race state championship but due to time constraints I opted to race in Masters 1/2/3 field. 
I won this race last year when I was a 3 and with the strong team we had lined up I had high hopes of getting one of us across the line first this year.  The weather forcast leading up to Saturday was for a warm, sunny, dry day.  Well, at least it was pretty warm.  It wasn't raining yet but it looked like it could at any minute.  The last 3K of this course could be nasty if wet.

Audi had eight guys, we had seven and KR had six.  When the attacks started it was evident that all three teams knew what the perfect situation would be.    After a good handfull unsuccessfull attacks Ryan(KR) rolled solo and after a developint a small gap Matt(Audi) bridged up.  I not sure why no one else responded. (espedially from our team) After they got a small gap Mark and Greg(Farestart) jumped hard to try and bridge.  It took them a while but the did eventually make contact and we had what we wanted.  After they got a good sized lead we started to see if we could get a 2nd man free to try to join them.  If the right people hopped on we kept going, if not, we sat up.  Apex had missed out and they finally started taking turns attacking.  Their effort finally brought the break back.

Did I mention that it started raining.  It was sporadic but the road was getting really wet in places.  As soon as we were together I launched and got in a short live break.  We kept attacking until we thought we had a another good situation.  Both Nikos and Matt made into a six man break that included Greg and Roger from Apex, Erik(KR) and Martin(Farestart).  Surprisingly, Audi missed out and soon Alfredo was off the front trying to bridge.   I was surprised no one from the smaller teams tried to go with him.   Unfortunately he wasn't able to make it across was soon back with the rest of the field.  Slowly the break disappeared up the road and I had a good feeling about their chances.  We stopped attacking and started working on keeping the rest of field in check. 

Just as I was wondering why Audi wasn't doing anything to try to bring the break back they all shot to the front and started putting in a mammoth effort.  At first I wasn't too worried because it seemed like they waited a little too long and would run out of time (and hopefully gas) but they kept at it with almost no help from any of the others teams that had been left out.

We were probably just under half way through the final lap when we realized Audi's efforts were starting to pay off.  A short time later we were all together.  While Audi was working their asses off we were getting nice and rested.  As soon as we made contact we immediately started throwing two guys off the front again.   I was amazed that Greg and Martin were still able to take turns going with the attacks.  Nikos didn't take much of a rest and soon he was attacking as well.  The Audi guys looked tired but they were still responding to the attacks.  After a barrage of failed attempts Aaron launched and to my surprise only Greg(Apex) went with him.  We sat up and  I sat up and watched the two roll away. With how active the race had been I thought someone would jump to bring them back but no one did.  Did Audi use everything in the tank to bring back the break?  Did Greg and Martin finally burn all their matches?  Right before we made it to the hill for last time I started to think that unless Aaron and Greg stopped working with each other they could actually survive. If that were the case I was pretty sure Aaron could win the sprint.  We started up the last climb and it was time to get in position for the finish.  I wanted to be at the front when we started down the hill.  Robert(KR) hauled his teammates Jim to the front and I knew what their game plan was.  I got right on Jim's wheel and followed him through the hairpin.  We jumped onto the final straightaway to the finish.  Robert was leading and we were strung out in a single file line which was great.  All of a sudden the pace slowed for no real reason and I got a little boxed in as we bunched together.  I think it was Kevin who soared to the front to get things moving again.  I'm not sure when it was but way before the 200m marker  Mark jumped and came flying by at mach I?  I think it caught Jim by surprise but he jumped hard to respond.  It was game on and I jumped as well.  I was by myself in the wind and it was a little longer than I can usually hold a full on effort but I had no choice.  I put my head down and reached deep to where I hadn't been in a while and just kept driving.

Aaron was able to get a gap on Greg and took the win!!!  Mark, with no help at all held the sprint and took third.  Ryan(KR) and I were now in a drag racefor 5th.  I took a quick look back and realized no one was going to catch us. I had nothing left but kept digging. We went wheel to wheel for the last 20 meters.  Ryan outlasted me for 5th.

We accomplished our mission by taking 1st and 3rd.  We really worked as a team and it paid off.  Big props to Audi for doing something I thought was next to impossible.  I wasn't happy about it but you have to admire what they did.  Also for Greg and Martin for never giving up.  I've been in tough races when you don't have numbers.  It's not easy for two teammates to go with every attack(except for the deciding one).   Congrats to my teammate John for taking 3rd in the crazy Pro/1/2 race.  It was a great day for the Garage crew.

Olympic View Road Race

I had planned on NOT racing this weekend after two consecutive weekends of really hard, multiple days of racing but at the last minute I found myself making the trek down to Elma. I questioned why many times on my way down. It is still early in the season and being a CAT 3 racer I had never done a 90 mile race (145K for those getting into the Euro Classics). They had us doing the same distance as the Pro/1/2's! This was the inaugural run for this race and I think Erik Anderson, the Bikesale gang and other volunteers did an awesome job. The weather was almost perfect for racing.
The course was 18 mile loop on nice, quiet, rural roads. It was mostly flat with a few rollers, one short big ring climb and a downhill with a 180 hairpin about 1k from the finish. I was the only 3 on my team doing the race and it was just my luck that many of the teams in our 45 person field were well represented. Bikesale, HB, First Rate, Apex and Recycled all had four or more riders. I knew that was going to make it a tough race. We rolled out at 1:25pm and the attacks started right away. 2K down, 143K to go!! After a few failed attempts a group with at least one guy from each of the well stocked teams established a gap. I had just chased down the previous break and slid back at the wrong time to recover. That break was the one to be in. First Rate and Bikesale responded when guys tried to bring them back and pretty soon the group disappeared from our site. It was really early in the race but I was worried that they might have a good chance of staying away. I, along with a couple of Recycled, Lenovo and Garage guys tried a couple of times to get off the front and pull the leaders back but we never got more than a 10 second gap. I did a lot of work on the first two laps and at the start of lap three decided to drop to mid pack and just sit in for a while. It was frustrating to see other teams with no guys in the break just sitting in and doing nothing but I guess that's the way it goes. Half way through the lap we got word the leaders had a 90 second lead on us. It had been slowly growing and if we didn't do something now we would never catch them. Steve Z. from Garage had been working hard up front dropped back and asked me If I would help them get something going. I was definitely up for that. I sat in for a few more minutes so I could eat and get a couple of good pulls off the water bottle and then I moved up and shot off the front. I was going 30+ mph and figured other guys would jump with me or the bigger teams would chase me down. I looked back and I was alone. I decided to put my head down and start burning those matches. I can't remember who but finally a couple of guys broke free and came up to me. I think they were from Fanatik and Lenovo. We kept the pace high and our gap got bigger. When we got a little too far out for the pack's comfort they finally put the hammer down. When they caught us I stayed up front and kept the pack spread out single file. Other guys finally started to realized that they had to do the same or we wouldn't catch the leaders. This big effort paid off and 96K into the race we finally caught the leaders. I was starting to hurt a bit from the big efforts but wasn't feeling too bad. I was just wondering what I'd have left for the rest of the race. We finally hit the last lap, 29K to go and we still had a good size field left. I sat in until the first little roller and when we hit it I sprinted to the front. It stayed quiet for about 6 or 8K but as we got closer to the finish the tension started to mount. I checked around for guys I thought might go. The Adam's from Recycled are always ready to make a move and Logan from HB was sitting right up front. Even though I felt content to just sit in and wait for the final sprint I decided that wasn't how I wanted to play. I decided that when Logan jumped I would jump as well. A few guys went off the front but I made no move to go with them. Finally, with about 20K to go Logan and Jonathan (First Rate) jumped. I didn't hesitate and jumped right on. It was a quick surge and after about 20 or so strong pedal strokes I looked back and we had a gap and it was growing fast. We were flying. I actually had a moment when I shook my head and laughed. Here I was, going on an attack with two of the strongest juniors in the state and I was actually old enough to be their dad. What the hell was I doing? We started rotating and continued to pull away. 16K to go...can I keep this up? I could tell they were getting tired as well. All of us missed a couple of rotations here and there but we were still increasing our lead. With about 5K to go we had a couple of occasions where we slowed a little too much and I could see the pack coming in the distance. All we had to do was make it over the final hill and through the downhill section and we were set. The chasers knew this and finally started working together to catch us. They were closing fast. 4K to go and I was definitely wasted from all the time I spent up front all day. Was it a stupid move? 2K to go and we finally hit the base of the climb. The pack was right on our heels but we still had a lead. "Just get over this bastard and I'm set". This time through if felt like it was a 20%, 1K monster. I was not feeling good but I powered up. I got to the top and I had dropped behind the two juniors by a couple of bike lengths. I forgot that it didn't drop down until after a short flat section. That is where I cracked. I was about 50 meters from the down hill when I got caught by a handful of guys. I raced though the hairpin and down the final 1K. I was so pissed at myself that I just sat up and coated to the finish. I probably should have sprinted it out but I didn't have the heart (or the legs). All I had to do was hang on for 50 more meters and I would have been on the podium. Logan and Jonathan just barely hung on with Logan taking it at the line. There was a lot of "would of, could of" thoughts going through my head. Did I work too hard chasing down attacks? Should have I just sat in like everyone else and worked it out in the sprint? I was glad I went with that move. I would do it again in a second. I was really bummed out while changing at the car but a bunch of guys came up to me and told me they were impressed with all my efforts. That made me feel a lot better. In the end, that's just racing and that is what I love about it. One week you gamble and finish on top, the next week you gamble and it doesn't work. Oh well, on to Walla Walla!

Good job Tina on finishing strong in the Womans 4 field!!