For my first blog post, I'm talking about my first stage race...the Cherry Blossom that was held in The Dalles, OR on April 3rd through the 5th. The race consisted of 4 races over three days: A 37 mile road race on Friday, an 8 mile Time Trial on Saturday Morning, a 30 minute criterium on Saturday night and a 56 mile road race on Sunday morning (with over 5000 feet of climbing).
I felt going into the race I had a shot at a top 5 finish in the overall general classification since I felt I could sprint fast enough to do well in the first stage, am a time trialist at heart and it's what most of my training is geared toward, If I was in the lead after the time trial I figured I could save my legs in the crit and just stay with the main pack out of trouble...then try and hold on as best as I could going into the final day's stage.
On Friday, the first stage, the temps were mild but it was very windy (steady winds in the 20 mph range with gusts over 30 mph). This made for a strange race. Speeds were very high on the front side of the course with the wind at our backs. A few breakaway attempts were tried but my teammates kept everything in control...when they got far enough out, the pace was picked up and the break brought back in. When we hit the climb, we were heading into the wind which slowed the pack down an amazing amount and kept all the climbers in check. This was actually the most dangerous part of the race as I witnessed at least 3 crashes on the climb. The pack would be holding a steady pace, then a gust would hit the guys up front slowing them down compressing the pack causing people to rub wheels and go down. Several times they went all the way across the peloton and into the other lane before crashing, taking several riders with them in the process.
On the second lap things really strung out on the front side of the course. A couple of riders from Team Oregon tried to make a break that was quickly brought back in by my teammates...however, this split the pack up big time going from 80 strong down to 37, leaving just 5 of my teammates up front with me (we had 13 racers in this race).
Over the final climb things were still together with the lead pack, but started to get a bit dicey on the way down the other side of the climb as riders started jockeying for position. With 1k to go it really bunched up...but they opened up both lanes at 1k which helped a lot (I wish they would do this for every race). Shortly after the 1k sign I could see things getting more and more bunched up, so I sent the only teammate I had who wanted to try a lead out off to string out the pack and make for a safer sprint finish.
As it turned out, this worked perfectly. The pack strung out and lined up behind him. He held on until the turn when his legs gave out and it was left to me to try and get a high placing for the team. I came around the turn in approximately 15th place, but knew it was a long way to the finish. Many riders made the mistake of starting their sprint here, where there was a small steep hill that leveled off to a mild uphill finish. I waited before turning on the heat and followed a couple of wheels for lead outs. With around 300 meters to go I decided it was time to go as there were a few riders up the road from me. Thankfully I can carry a lot of power for a long time as I was able to pick off riders one by one all the way to the finish where I missed 1st place by about 3 bike lengths.
Overall, I was very happy with day 1.
Day two started out early with the Time Trial. Since I finished 2nd in day one, I was the 2nd to last rider to leave the starting gate. I set my trainer up, parked my car and rode back to the start finish line to get ready to roll. My legs felt pretty good and my warm up went well. I knew I was going to need to go very hard to get the lead after the time trial and it being such a short TT times were going to be close.
The clock was messed up at the starting gate so I ended my warm up just a bit early so I could be near the starting gate when my time came up. I got in line with just over 30 seconds to go, set my HR monitor, set my cyclocomputer and lined up ready to go.
Countdown is on...5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and we are off. I sprinted away so hard my rear wheel was skipping on the ground knowing I had a short, steep hill right out of the gate. The first half of the race was all uphill and started with some rolling terrain. Within 3 miles I had caught my 30 second man and shortly after that my 1 minute man. By this time I had settled into a good tempo and was holding my power well.
At the turn around point I could see the guy behind me had done a good job holding his 30 seconds so I knew I had to descend like a banshee....Off I went holding nothing back. Since I love to descend fast, this was where I make up a lot of time. The descent was a little tricky with some tight corners, but not tight enough to ever get out of the aero bars. With about 1 mile to go I came up and passed my 1:30 man and then pushed with everything I had heading into the finish...I crossed the line at 35.5 mph and finished with a time of 19 minutes 38 seconds, which as it turned out was good enough to win by 8 seconds.
Victory and time to pack up, head to the hotel for a shower, food and get ready for the crit.
My whole goal at this time was to just stay with the front of the pack and stay out of trouble since this was my first crit and in the end, it wouldn't make any difference in my overall standings. One of my teammates made a great move at the end and was able to pull off a 4th place in the crit. As far as I could tell only one crash took place and it was on the last lap when some wheel rubbing took place and a guy went down into the curb...OUCH!
The plan on Sunday was to try and keep the lead pack in sight and if need be let them go on the big 5.5 mile 1600 foot climb, then try and make up time on the downhill. One of my teammates had a really good time trial (his first) and found himself in 10th overall. Knowing he was a better climber than I am, we felt it best he stay with the lead group if I got dropped on the climb and I'd try to catch up on the downhill.
The first 4 miles of the race were cold...so cold my teeth were chattering and I was violently shivering, even while riding and being shielded by the wind by the peloton. It wasn't until we hit the first climb that I warmed up and from then on...I was plenty warm.
I felt good on the first climb and 3/4 of the way up I was still with the lead pack. However, my positioning wasn't good and I was behind a few riders where the split took place and missed the break. At this point I felt it better to stay in my zone and not blow up trying to latch back on...so I plugged away on the climb with a small group of other riders.
Going over the top of the climb we had lost about 1 minute on the lead group and I really tried to heat it up on the long downhill...hitting 51.2 mph at one point. When we came to the end of the downhill and started up the next hill, we had the lead group in sight about 30 seconds out. We did everything we could do to catch them...but they were 10-15 strong and we were only 4 strong and the best we could do was hold ground.
The next descent was much more technical than the first and really suited my abilities....I was able to let lose and fly downhill...near the end of the descent I had the lead wheel car in sight and at the end was only about 10 seconds off the lead group. After a short Time Trial I had caught back up to them and was part of the lead group again.
However, I had expended a lot of energy in the chase and was tired. I tried to sit in and get my legs back under me before the climb and was able to get most of them...but not all.
The second time up the climb I stayed with them for about the first 1/4 of the climb where they started to slowly walk away from me. By the top of the climb I was down approximately 5 minutes from the front pack, but they were shelling rider after rider and were down to 8-9 riders by this time.
On the way down, I picked up a few of the shelled riders, but never had more than 4 in our group at any time. Knowing I could downhill very fast, the lead group did everything they could to keep me at bay with a rotating pace line down the hill carrying more speed than I could in my smaller group. At this time I knew I wasn't going to get a top 5 overall...but wanted to do the best I could to finish with the best possible GC placing.
Coming into the finish, my teammate was at the line waiting for me to come in. He had finished 3rd on the day and had a great race. Hist time moved him from 10th to 4th overall...my time moved me from 1st to 11th overall, which isn't to bad as I finished 15th on the day which isn't too bad for a 194 pound Time Trialist :)
Overall, The Cherry Blossom stage race was a well organized race in a great location with some beautiful scenery. I learned a lot during the race and got some great power numbers. With my 2nd place finish in day one I also am now bumped up from a CAT 4 racer to a CAT 3 racer...which I was looking for anyway.
I have to give it up to my teammates, they did everything they could to help me try and win this race, but the legs just wouldn't do it for me with such a climbing stage on the last day and a lack of wind to keep things together on the climb.
Next year :)
The clock was messed up at the starting gate so I ended my warm up just a bit early so I could be near the starting gate when my time came up. I got in line with just over 30 seconds to go, set my HR monitor, set my cyclocomputer and lined up ready to go.
Countdown is on...5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and we are off. I sprinted away so hard my rear wheel was skipping on the ground knowing I had a short, steep hill right out of the gate. The first half of the race was all uphill and started with some rolling terrain. Within 3 miles I had caught my 30 second man and shortly after that my 1 minute man. By this time I had settled into a good tempo and was holding my power well.
At the turn around point I could see the guy behind me had done a good job holding his 30 seconds so I knew I had to descend like a banshee....Off I went holding nothing back. Since I love to descend fast, this was where I make up a lot of time. The descent was a little tricky with some tight corners, but not tight enough to ever get out of the aero bars. With about 1 mile to go I came up and passed my 1:30 man and then pushed with everything I had heading into the finish...I crossed the line at 35.5 mph and finished with a time of 19 minutes 38 seconds, which as it turned out was good enough to win by 8 seconds.
Victory and time to pack up, head to the hotel for a shower, food and get ready for the crit.
My whole goal at this time was to just stay with the front of the pack and stay out of trouble since this was my first crit and in the end, it wouldn't make any difference in my overall standings. One of my teammates made a great move at the end and was able to pull off a 4th place in the crit. As far as I could tell only one crash took place and it was on the last lap when some wheel rubbing took place and a guy went down into the curb...OUCH!
The plan on Sunday was to try and keep the lead pack in sight and if need be let them go on the big 5.5 mile 1600 foot climb, then try and make up time on the downhill. One of my teammates had a really good time trial (his first) and found himself in 10th overall. Knowing he was a better climber than I am, we felt it best he stay with the lead group if I got dropped on the climb and I'd try to catch up on the downhill.
The first 4 miles of the race were cold...so cold my teeth were chattering and I was violently shivering, even while riding and being shielded by the wind by the peloton. It wasn't until we hit the first climb that I warmed up and from then on...I was plenty warm.
I felt good on the first climb and 3/4 of the way up I was still with the lead pack. However, my positioning wasn't good and I was behind a few riders where the split took place and missed the break. At this point I felt it better to stay in my zone and not blow up trying to latch back on...so I plugged away on the climb with a small group of other riders.
Going over the top of the climb we had lost about 1 minute on the lead group and I really tried to heat it up on the long downhill...hitting 51.2 mph at one point. When we came to the end of the downhill and started up the next hill, we had the lead group in sight about 30 seconds out. We did everything we could do to catch them...but they were 10-15 strong and we were only 4 strong and the best we could do was hold ground.
The next descent was much more technical than the first and really suited my abilities....I was able to let lose and fly downhill...near the end of the descent I had the lead wheel car in sight and at the end was only about 10 seconds off the lead group. After a short Time Trial I had caught back up to them and was part of the lead group again.
However, I had expended a lot of energy in the chase and was tired. I tried to sit in and get my legs back under me before the climb and was able to get most of them...but not all.
The second time up the climb I stayed with them for about the first 1/4 of the climb where they started to slowly walk away from me. By the top of the climb I was down approximately 5 minutes from the front pack, but they were shelling rider after rider and were down to 8-9 riders by this time.
On the way down, I picked up a few of the shelled riders, but never had more than 4 in our group at any time. Knowing I could downhill very fast, the lead group did everything they could to keep me at bay with a rotating pace line down the hill carrying more speed than I could in my smaller group. At this time I knew I wasn't going to get a top 5 overall...but wanted to do the best I could to finish with the best possible GC placing.
Coming into the finish, my teammate was at the line waiting for me to come in. He had finished 3rd on the day and had a great race. Hist time moved him from 10th to 4th overall...my time moved me from 1st to 11th overall, which isn't to bad as I finished 15th on the day which isn't too bad for a 194 pound Time Trialist :)
Overall, The Cherry Blossom stage race was a well organized race in a great location with some beautiful scenery. I learned a lot during the race and got some great power numbers. With my 2nd place finish in day one I also am now bumped up from a CAT 4 racer to a CAT 3 racer...which I was looking for anyway.
I have to give it up to my teammates, they did everything they could to help me try and win this race, but the legs just wouldn't do it for me with such a climbing stage on the last day and a lack of wind to keep things together on the climb.
Next year :)
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