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!