Wilmington-Whiteface

Somehow I was coerced by my advisor to attend a conference at Colby College in Maine from June 22-27. But damn, such a long drive...I had to come up with a way to make it shorter. Luckily, the Whiteface-Wilmington race provided a nice stop-over in Lake Placid so that I could pretend it wouldn't be so painfully far from Ithaca.

We (the Cornell/Chris' Cookies cycling conglomerate) rolled in pretty late on Friday night, where we camped off the Marcy Dam access road just prior to the ADK Loj. Since I really haven't been back to the High Peaks since I left Clarkson, I forgot how much I miss hiking and camping there. But no...no time for that-we're here to race bikes!

After a huge breakfast at the Lake Placid Brewing Company and some bike porn at High Peaks Cyclery, we headed out the Wilmington for a 12:30 start. In reality, there was no reason to browse bikes at High Peaks since there were triathletes everywhere, previewing the course for the ironman which was this past weekend. I've never seen such a density of high priced bikes under so many goofy looking riders. I've also never seen such little regard for such high price bikes. Imagine several Cervelo P3c's left unwatched outside of practically any store where one can fill water bottles and buy snacks. Anyway...

The race consisted of a 6-7 mile jaunt out to the main loop, which we would do several times (I don't remember how many) before returning and climbing to the finish located a couple miles up the toll road. 72 miles total. Naturally, I should have looked at the climb before the race, but I didn't.

The 1/2/3 race was pretty small with only 25 starters, but there were a couple Canadian wild cards and a lone Fiordifrutta rider, Cory Burns. From the start it was obvious that he was not going anywhere off the front of the race. Any move on his part was instantly covered...wearing that jersey earns you quite a bit of respect from the field, but must be a pain to deal with.

Here's us sucking Cory's wheel over the top of the climb

The main loop was gently rolling, save one punchy climb through the feed zone. If any separations were going to occur, it would certainly be there. Luckily our group was well represented, with myself, Steve, Cameron, and Jake. While we're not quite CSC, we were hoping to have some minor control over the race...or at least settle to not chase each other down. Unfortunately, our strength was cut by 25% when Steve got off the bike to piss. An attack soon followed, and he found himself on a 50 mile time trial. We tried to get to the front to slow the field, but that didn't work very well. I suppose a real team may have dropped to pace him back to the field, but then we may very well have had a 4 person 50 mile team time trial. Oh well.

The race stayed together for the most part, with a couple small attacks going off, and actually gaining some ground. The desire to chase was decidedly lacking, but the time gaps seemed reasonable enough to pull back in the final miles, as long as they didn't grow. More than a few times we found ourselves at the front to accelerate the pace when it slowed significantly. None of us made any real moves, but we definitely did quite a bit of time with our faces in the wind and the stinging, intermittent rain. Given the speed on the flats and especially on the climb, the breaks weren't going anywhere.

This played out for several laps, and we reeled in the final solo breakaway with probably 10 miles to go. As we crested the climb through the feed zone, we were guided off the loop and back towards the Whiteface toll road. The race had officially started...all the rest was a warm-up (not really).

We came flying back into Wilmington on a road that was largely flat and downhill. Those not so confident in their climbing skills (or those overly confident) fired small attacks off the front, hoping to open a gap before the turn to the final climb. I'm not too sure what happened in that stretch of road, but I'm pretty sure all of them came back. It's possible the Canadian rider who won shot off in the flurry of attacks. Cory Burns put in a ton of digs, but clearly he was the last person the field would let go. As I shook out my legs on a small downhill section, Cory remarked, "Yeah, I hear ya." We talked for a bit as I tried to glean as much information about the climb from him. He described it well, warning me to ride my own pace and not get sucked into early efforts, doomed to fail. As we made the right turn onto the toll road, we wished each other good luck and dropped onto our little rings.

The Whiteface climb starts out very gently; I was honestly expecting something a little steeper. I didn't picture it very well from Cory's description- I openly queried whether this was the final climb or just a lead-in. The silence around me confirmed that it was indeed the final climb. In retrospect, I think they just thought I was being an asshole. No, I was being genuine. The road stretched out straight in front at a small, but tiring grade.

At this point, the field shattered as the climbers grouped near the front and others went into survival mode. I was hurting, but kept an eye on the front. I knew Steven Pingree was strong- he placed just behind me at GMSR, and had been beating me all spring in ECCC races. Also at the front was Nicholas Bruno, who beat me at Housatonic Hills in the cat4 race and placed 13th in the p/1/2 at Housatonic the week before. And then there was Cameron, not that I was racing against him. I knew we'd all make it hurt. The Canadian guy held a small gap to our group of 4.

Up ahead I spied a sign that read 1km...YES! Only a couple more minutes of suffering left! Somewhere around here, Cameron just barely slipped off the back of our group. I think he was still adjusting to not having a triple crankset and couldn't spin his insanely fast cadence. I was just following wheels, not processing the fact that the Canadian guy was going to ride away untouched. Not that I could do anything about it anyway, haha.

As we came to the 200m sign, I debated making an early charge to the line, but I still couldn't see the finish. The road curved left, and the trees successfully obscured the tent and timing equipment. The road was also noticeably steeper than before. With probably 150m, I jumped on the left, pulling around Nick and drawing Steven out on the right. My move was strong enough to get a little room, but perhaps a little too early. I also should have taken up another gear somewhere, because I was chugging a bit and couldn't match Pingree's acceleration when he finally pulled past at the line. 3rd place! Not too bad- two podiums in two weekends. Photographic evidence suggests that I could have won the sprint if I had been in the drops!

Looking naturally resplendent with my moustache.

And a picture!

I finally hooked up the digital cam to unload some pics...

WARNING: Gratuitous side-butt nudity

For whatever reason, this picture doesn't capture the full essence of the road rash...and it sure as hell hurt a lot more than it looks.

Another (late) update

It appears I've let this thing lapse again...time to recap...

Sunday, June 15, 2008- Housatonic Hills RR

After my respectable 2nd place at the Cyclonauts race, I was happy, but kept my hubris reserved since the big names of New England cycling weren't there. Sunday would be my chance to see them again...and be horribly beaten again.

During the pre-race period at Cyclonauts, there was a lot of talk about the "new" course for Housatonic Hills- suffice to say, people were worried. The climb up Constitution Hill was now part of the actual loop...not just the last 2 kilometers. Allegedly each lap had 2700 feet of climbing- we had to do 3 loops, for a total of ~81 miles. I was less bothered about the climbing and more concerned about the length. I'm not used to racing these distances yet, and without help in the feed zone, we had to carry anything we wanted to drink. I did 81 miles on two water bottles. Dehydration imminent!

The first time up the climb was neutral, but it was still annoying since I could not climb at my pace. That's not to say we were going slow, but I was not in the rhythm I'm used to. My legs felt pretty bad- I guess I didn't recover well enough from the previous day. And I had to piss like Sea Biscuit (to steal a line from Juno). Now I'm in for it.

After the neutral climb, we hit a rather long descent where I lost a few wheels. On the subsequent flat and climb I began to fall off the back of the field. What the hell? Not even 5km into the race and I'm in trouble! The SRAM wheel car pulled around, placing itself between me and field. Considering this somewhat of an insult, I forced myself to man-up and get back in. And it worked. Safe for now.

This happened a few more times on the first lap as the pace shifted when attacks went off the front. Eventually I could see Targetraining sitting on the front- presumably they had a rider up the road and they were slowing the pace. Phew...thanks guys!

As we finished the first lap, we began our first race pace ascent of Constitution Hill...and my legs felt awful. I could still see the big names just ahead, but they were pulling away. I guess when the field includes a soon-to-be Olympian (Todd Wells) and more than a handful of other great riders, the pace is bound to be hot. I grabbed a few wheels and managed to pull myself up to the middle of the group as we came over the top. And then I was dropped on the descent again...time to chase.

Once again, I spent the second lap yo-yo'ing with the peloton, almost losing it for good at one particular point. I practically turned the bike around to head back to the start...but then I remembered how much I spent in time/money on this weekend...so I chased back on, with a little help from a Targetraining rider who was also popped off. We were even applauded by the neutral support car! Safe again, at least for the remainder of the second lap. What a crappy day.

The third lap began with an insanely fast ascent of Constitution Hill, where the big separations occurred. In front were the elites of new england cycling...behind them formed the human cat2's. I was happy for this separation, because it meant the last lap would be easier and I wouldn't die. With both of my bottles practically empty, it probably wasn't long before dehydration and cramping set in.

As expected the third lap was easier, as people became content with what was left of the peloton. The pace ahead must have been tough, as we picked up Josh Lipka, who drifted back to us mere mortals. Small attacks went off, but were usually brought back without much effort. Matt tried a few pulls, but didn't get much help in the wind. It looked as if the final KOM climb would be the launch point for attacks.

We turned onto the KOM climb (which was more of a 3-4% false flat than a real climb) and people went nuts. I'd say the group got split in half in only the first third of the hill. I had my front wheel pinched as two riders stood in front, but managed to stay upright (yes, bike handling!). Someone swerved severely and forced Matt out of his pedal and practically into the side of the road. For a race of allegedly good riders, it wasn't pretty.

Matt managed to claw himself back with surprising speed, but had lost Lipka's wheel in the prior melee- and now he was gone. As we looked ahead, he had sufficiently buried his head and was riding away from really damn quickly. And like that, he was gone for good. Ridiculous.

The final drag was extremely fast as riders tried attack after attack on the largely flat/downhill miles...great effort, but largely wasted. I sucked wind at the back as my mouth became increasingly cotton-like. Since my bottles had been sucked dry miles earlier, I could do little but think about the cold drinks at the finish line. Concentrate on the race for now.

As we came flying past the front of the school things that got pretty sketchy as everyone jockeyed for position into the final turn. Having pretty fresh road rash from Balloon Fest, I slid back and let the others fight it out. We slammed through the turn, where a slight uphill sprint of ~200m began. I passed quite a few people in our group as they popped. Unfortunately I got boxed into the side of the road by someone, which quickly ended my charge to the line. I hit the brakes and maneuvered around, losing precious speed and severely screwing up my gearing into the final 100m. I managed to hold on for a mid-pack finish within the group, good for 32nd overall, 5:17 back from the winner. Meh. Matt uncorked a pretty solid finish, getting 4th in the group sprint and 23rd overall. But he stole a coke from someone at the beginning of the last lap, so that's cheating, haha.

Overall- pretty happy to finish, especially given the difficulty in the early miles. Could have done better, but man was that race hard!

Wilmington-Whiteface report next!