Weekend Race Wrapup (long . . .)

After Saturday's races, we gathered up most of the club members and went out food-hunting. The Mall-side restaurants, including Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, etc. were jam-packed with crowds of people waiting outside for tables and waits of around an hour. We settled for a Roadhouse Grill, mainly because we were tired of driving around, and after a half-hour wait finally settled down for some grub. This is one of those places with free peanuts and a bar, so a few of the guys pulled up stools and did some brewed carbo-loading while we were waiting.



As it turned out, it was Charlie's Birthday, so naturally someone told the staff and he got the usual restaurant chain birthday routine!

We were up before dawn again on Sunday for a quick breakfast at Waffle House and the half-hour drive up to the road race course. Although the start/finish was the same as Saturday, the course was completely different, and included quite a bit more hills. I thought it was a really nice 14-mile circuit, but was a little disappointed that the hot spot was not at the top of a climb and the finish, although preceded by a good long climb, was fairly flat for the final 300 meters or so. Neither was good news for me. My power-to-weight advantage is mostly due to the denominator, not the numerator.

The masters field seemed a few riders smaller than on Saturday, which was surprising since I would have expected a few new guys to show up on a Sunday. In the overall omnium, I was precariously placed in 2nd, but in a two-event omnium that's not worth much and my only plan was to ride the race without worrying too much about the omnium. All that points stuff just gives me a headache anyway. I never was very good at playing games, and I could definitely have used a coach and a radio as it turned out.

The first lap of the 5-lap race was pretty calm with lots of riders obviously focused on the hot spot near its end. Mark took a few flyers off the front during the lap to keep things moving and make some of the other teams do a little work. My legs were a little sore from Saturday's race and although I knew I needed to be serious about the hot spot, my heart really wasn't in it. In the kilometer before the hot spot I moved up onto the wheel of the Oklahoma rider (OKC Velo) who had won the previous day's road race, but I was hemmed in by the center line (we didn't have the full road for the hot spot sprint). Without a climb to string things out, I never got a clear shot at the line until it was way too late and crossed 4th in the 3-deep hot spot. The OK rider (Tom) took 3rd. That's he on the right in the photo above.

Immediately after the hot spot, one of the Colavita guys attacked hard and I had to dig pretty deep to respond, but I knew this could be the whole race and to hesitate now could be a big mistake. Those Colavita jerseys, by the way, always make me hungry. We blasted through the right turn to start the second lap and when I looked back there was a gap. In the break were four riders: one from Colavita (Dallas), one from Woodlands (Houston), Tracy from Twin City (Monroe) and me. Tom, however, had missed the break, so we put our collective heads down and hammered pretty steadily for the next ten miles, at least. By then we were way out of sight, but with no idea how big the gap was or what was going on behind. By now I was in team time trial mode and everyone was working pretty well together. I was pushing the pace, thoroughly enjoying the terrain and the effort, hoping the rest of my team was able to take it easy back in the pack.

About half-way through the third lap, as we climbed one of the longer hills on the course, we lost Tracy and were down to three riders. Everyone was still working well together as we passed the Cat. 4 field that had started about five minutes ahead of us. By the start of the last lap, the effort was starting to get to me and the break's pace had slowed a bit. Where we had been going 25-26 mph, we were down to 24 or so, and we were climbing the little hills much more slowly now. Half-way through the last lap, the Woodlands guy, who was behind the Colavita guy and me on overall, stopped taking pulls, figuring it was pretty much up to the two of us to battle it out for the win. My legs were hurting now, and although I thought I might still be able to pull off a respectable sprint, my confidence was lacking. I decided my best chance was to keep the pace fairly high and hope the other guys were hurting at least as much as I was.

I was sadly mistaken.

With a couple of miles to go, things slowed down a whole lot as the others started anticipating the sprint up the hill. I really hate it when things slow down before a sprint. It is never a good thing for me, so I tried to keep the pace going and led our little trio pretty much all the way up the last climb. When it started to level off about 300 or 400 meters from the finish, the Woodlands guy attacked. I stood up, but there was nothing left and with 50 meters to go I sat up and coasted across the line in third place.

I was rather surprised that I had not had enough left to mount a decent sprint, but by 10:00 that night I knew why. By then my legs were really stiff and sore, as they are still. So I guess that although I rode strongly, I played the game badly yesterday. Since this was a points-based omnium, all my work was for naught, because the Oklahoma guy, who ended up placing 5th, still stayed ahead of me on points and the Colavita guy moved ahead of both of us (I think), leaving me in 3rd overall, despite the huge time gap we had on the pack by the finish.

After I finished, I stopped and had a cold drink of some sort, chatted a while with the other guys in the break, and then rode about half-way down the hill to look for the pack. I could see them in the distance, approaching the climb, but despite my roadside cheerleading, they all suffered on the hill, mostly finishing around mid-pack.

We had to leave for the 5.5 hour drive home about an hour after our race and the results weren't done by then, so we really don't know for sure where we all placed in the overall, and also don't know how Jason and Brooks did in the Cat. 5 race that started around that time.

Although Woody missed the break in the Cat. 1/2/3 race, it sounded like he was pretty pleased with his ride. He ended up 13th on Sunday, coming off the back a little bit as the pack sprinted up the final hill before the finish.

News Flash!! As I'm writing this, an e-mail went out to the LAMBRA list about Frank. Here it is:

Just to let you all know, Frank Breure is currently in room 2018 at Willis-Knighton, 318-212-7001 in Bossier City. He crashed with one mile to go in the Cat. 1-2-3 race (he won't hesitate telling you it was his fault). Broke his hip in the crash and had surgery last night, got a couple of screws put in. He did finish the race Sunday and finished 2nd overall in the omnium points! He had taco'd his wheel, then suddenly Teresa White, a volunteer, drove up and said she had a wheel in her truck and Frank stuck it on. He rolled out at a screaming 8-10 mph and got 4th place since the breakaway he was in had about 9 minutes on the field.I dropped in on him this morning and he looks good. Russ checked in on him last night. If anyone wants to give Frank a hard time, call or drop by. He'll probably go home by Wednesday latest.
Alan

Frank probably does more races each season than anyone else in the state, and it's really a shame that he's going to have to end his season this way. Broken hips aren't all that uncommon in cycling and Frank's the second rider I know who finished his race after breaking his. I guess he's the fifth rider I know who has broken a hip because of a crash.

This morning I went out (late) for a short spin on the levee. My legs were still really sore and stiff and I wasn't very interested in going more than 18 mph. I saw Realdo and rode with him for a while. He and most of the Herring guys are leaving for the Tour of Guyana tomorrow, and he promised I'd get some phone calls so I can keep the local folks updated on how the race is going. Tim R. is going despite his wife's advanced pregnancy, but if she stays on schedule, he will be back in time for the big event. The only question now is whether the locks on his house will be changed or not when he returns!!

So despite the sore legs and my own lack of tactical savvy, it was a long but fun weekend. The road courses were great and the only thing really lacking was a larger field. Perhaps next year when word gets out a little more?