This past weekend Emmy and I drove up to Laramie, Wyoming for a two day, three stage cycling race. It is always fun to have a cycling specific block of training and racing during the racing season, especially since it lets me think like a single sport athlete for a short period of time. Unfortunately, it is a bit more difficult to actually perform up to the standards of these single sport athletes though!
Stage 1 - 86-miles
This race started in Albany, Wyoming (20 miles out of Laramie) at 8,400-feet. We rolled out 7 miles down to 7,500-feet before starting the climbing for the day. The first climb from Centennial gained 2,400-feet over 9 miles. There were no fireworks on this climb since it came fairly early in the race and we would have to retrace our steps in a few hours on the return trip. The group did shed the weaker climbers but stayed together with a group of 20-30 riders at the top of the Snowy Range Pass at 10,800-feet. Our race descended to Ryan Park at 8,400-feet which served as the turnaround for the race. The action started immediately on the climb back up Snowy Range Pass. I positioned myself behind former pro triathlete, and pint-sized climber, Nate Llerandi and he led a blistering tempo that quickly shattered the group.
Despite dropping a bit off the pace twice on the climb back up to the summit of the pass, I managed to claw myself back into the lead group on the sections of the climb that leveled out. At the summit, we were down to 12 or 13 riders and we were onto a fast descent back down the 9-miles. I led the group down the mountain and once back onto the flats, a rider in the group said we maxed out at 61 mph!
Over the rolling hills during the final 11 miles of riding, we caught a breakaway rider and dropped a few others from the group leaving only 10 of us to battle it out for the stage. I had suffered a few times throughout the ride with leg cramps and could sense I wouldn't have the strength to contest for the stage win. At one point during the final 5 miles, Llerandi took a pull next to me and I told him if his legs felt good that he should go for it and I would work as his "teammate" and attempt to block and chase any pursuers. He felt good and went for it and the rest of the group took the bait, let Llerandi ride off the front, and let me continue to set the pace all the way until the final 1km to go sign.
The final 1km was uphill and I was immediately off the back of the group as they had been sitting back in preparation for the finale. I finished the stage in 10th, :49 seconds behind Llerandi, who held on by 4 seconds to win the stage! It felt good to play a role in his win but even better to see the strongest rider on the day actually win the stage. In cycling, often times that doesn't happen.
Stage 2 - 40 minute Crit
The legs were soft on Sunday, but luckily the Cat 3's didn't start racing until noon, so Em and I had time to lounge around and play with Thor and Izzy who also made the trip with us.
The crit was uneventful, a quick pace but very clean on a non-technical course. I stayed out of trouble in the front of the group and just wanted to keep the GC contenders in check, not lose any additional time, and then let the time trial later that afternoon determine the final placing. I ended up finishing the crit in 10th place, being out sprinted by a few riders in the final 100-meters.
Stage 3 - 10 mile Individual Time Trial
This is my strongest form of racing and I am sorry to report I failed to prepare my equipment properly for the race. At Kansas 70.3 two weeks before, I was unable to shift into my two lowest (most resistant) gears on the bike, as my cables had frayed. Well, I didn't have this changed out so I was faced with the same situation again in yesterday's race against the clock. It is billed as a "flat" course, but the first 5 miles are slightly downhill with the return trip being slightly uphill. I rode the flat portions evenly but was forced to tuck and coast instead of risk spinning out on the downhill sections. I acknowledged before the race start this was no ones fault but my own and I tried to race my best with the situation I had. On the brighter side, I think this may have saved some strength in my legs for the return trip. I ended up finishing 5th on the time trial in 23min57sec, compared to the stage winner's 22:37. 2nd, 3rd and 4th were all within one minute. This moved me up to 7th place in the overall GC and good enough to cover our lodging or gas expenses for the trip:)
Next up will be the Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, MI. That means it is time to get back into the swimming and running routine again.
Cheers,
LF
